STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Matrix Rental Solutions, a Stamford, Connecticut-based technology company on a mission to improve access to fair and affordable housing, announced today a new investment from Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s strategic venture capital arm and leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies.
Leveraging the investment from Connecticut Innovations, Matrix Rental Solutions plans to expand its team, further advance its technology platform and develop its Universal Rental Application to better serve the affordable housing market. The company is already seeing significant interest from property owners and managers across the country and expects to continue to grow its customer base significantly in the coming year.
"What we like about Matrix Rental Solutions is its ability to address a critical need for fair and affordable housing in Connecticut and across the United States,” said Alison Malloy, managing director of investments at Connecticut Innovations. “We believe that Matrix Rental Solutions has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of millions of people, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow."
Using real-time data to produce an “ability to pay” score that is more equitable and inclusive than traditional credit scoring, Matrix Rental Solutions’ AI-driven Universal Rental Application provides property managers with insights into the full financial profile of prospective tenants, de-risking the rental process and enabling owners to make their properties available to affordable housing programs. The Universal Rental Application equips renters and owners with tools that analyze, streamline and expedite the acceptance process by up to 50%.
An innovative scoring system is a key component of the Universal Rental Application; a first-of-its-kind standardized affordable housing application that slashes red tape, simplifies the application process for tenants and saves time and administrative costs for rental property.
"Traditional credit scoring, the main metric by which rental-worthiness is measured, is inherently biased against young people, immigrants, minorities and other underrepresented communities. And for rental property owners, it is not an accurate or reliable barometer of prospective tenants’ long term ability to pay. Matrix makes tenant evaluation easy,” said Sipho Simela, founder and CEO of Matrix Rental Solutions. “The support of Connecticut Innovations brings us one step closer to bringing our affordable housing solutions to more people across the country. With this investment, we will accelerate our development and continue to improve the affordable housing process for both tenants and property owners."
About Matrix
Matrix is a Universal Rental Application that is changing the landscape of the growing, $500 billion rental housing market. Matrix features a single, reusable application with a single fee, powered by real-time data and producing an “ability to pay” score. Using a variety of factors, including assets, income and previous rental history, the result is more inclusive scoring that gives property managers faster, more accurate insights into the full financial profile of a prospective tenant. Matrix removes the potential for source of income discrimination, taking the subsidy into consideration and automating the underwriting process. Today’s processing time for affordable housing applications is approximately 36 days. This leads to compounding losses, making public housing acceptance simply not an option for many owners. Matrix streamlines the acceptance process and shortens it by up to 50%, helping more owners make their properties available to affordable housing and get leased faster. For more information, please visit https://www.mymatrixrent.com.
About Connecticut Innovations
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is Connecticut’s strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut’s innovative, growing companies. CI provides venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies, financial support for innovation and collaboration, and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. For more information, please visit http://www.ctinnovations.com.
