12M tenants in the United States are paying more than 50% of their income on housing costs. Millions more are housing insecure. While median rents have increased 23% since the start of the pandemic, inflation-adjusted have only increased 1.7%. This is creating an acute housing crisis and all levels of government are looking to expand access to affordable housing while attracting more private affordable housing investment. Pronto Housing is a software platform for property owners and managers to manage the initial qualification process for affordable housing and the subsequent compliance measures required by law including recertification. This process has traditionally been tedious, cumbersome, and largely centered around mounds of paperwork, causing many property owners to avoid participation, especially those institutionally backed. Pronto’s software allows units to be leased 5x faster and introduces transparency for applicants including a robust communication system. The versatile platform can be configured with any type of housing program; it’s not just limited to the popular Federal government programs.
AlleyWatch caught up with Pronto Housing CEO and Cofounder Christine Wendell to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding, which bring the company’s total funding raised to $9.5M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Pre-series A anchored by leaders from affordable housing investors MRK Partners, Infinity Capital Partners, and Icon National.
Tell us about the product or service that Pronto Housing offers.
Pronto provides software to make complicated affordable housing processes efficient and easy, for everyone. Our first product is focused on the resident qualification process – for lease ups and annual compliance.
What inspired the start of Pronto Housing?
I experienced the frustration of leasing affordable units firsthand as a multifamily asset manager – it took over a year to lease 20 units despite 40,000 households applying. Pronto is motivated by the importance of time – too many households are spending time looking for housing, applying to housing, and filling out paperwork.
How is Pronto Housing different?
Pronto is purpose built for the affordable housing industry. The platform is easy for property teams and residents – and configurable for ANY affordable housing program, not only the large Federal programs.
What market does Pronto Housing target and how big is it?
Pronto’s customers are property managers, owners, or regulatory agencies that work with any affordable housing units. We estimate this is >$1B market comprised of ~15 million regulated units. It is a growing market as the housing crisis impacts more and more households, and policies across the country makes changes to prioritize the development of affordable housing.
What’s your business model?
Pronto sells software-as-a-service (SaaS), charging a per unit per year fee in addition to 1-time implementation fees by property.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
In times of economic slowdown, real estate owners and operators are focused on operating efficiency and lease up velocity – exactly where Pronto adds value. More institutional capital is investing in affordable housing, owners are paying attention to operating expenses more than they were in a lower interest rate environment, and managers are looking to streamline operating costs.
What was the funding process like?
Pronto has both venture capital and strategic investors. For this round, we brought on strategic investors anchored by affordable housing leaders from MRK Partners, Infinity Capital Partners, and Icon National.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The current fundraising environment is very challenging, particularly in venture capital. Investors are choosier, and looking for more stringent metrics than they have in the past, and are looking for more control. We found investors who are value-aligned with Pronto and are very excited to have them onboard.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Our investors understand the pain point that Pronto solves (leasing and annual affordable housing compliance) firsthand given their experience owning, operating, and building affordable housing. Pronto’s product market fit, vision, and leadership gave them conviction that we will be the market leader in this space.
Our investors understand the pain point that Pronto solves (leasing and annual affordable housing compliance) firsthand given their experience owning, operating, and building affordable housing. Pronto’s product market fit, vision, and leadership gave them conviction that we will be the market leader in this space.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
- Add more properties to impact as many owners, managers, and renters as possible
- Expand our market coverage
- Begin to explore additional product functionality
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Work towards profitability. Look to capital outside venture investors who are aligned with your industry and customer base.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Pronto will continue to help more and more property teams with affordable housing leasing and annual compliance.
What’s your favorite winter destination in and around the city?
In the city: Brooklyn Bridge Park (less crowded in winter!)
Outside the city: Washington, CT.
