Rent2Cash, the first start-up that advances up to three years’ rent to property owners, has arrived on the market. Rent2Cash combines prop-tech and fintech in a ‘rental advance’ service, converting real estate properties into immediately available financial liquidity. The start-up is the brainchild of Yilang Chen and Gianluca Fioranelli, Roman entrepreneurs with long experience in the consulting sector, and aims to revolutionise the property rental sector.

Rent2Cash is ready to launch the service in Italy starting in the second quarter of 2024, but in the meantime, it has already reached a pre-money valuation of 4 million euros and an equity raising of around 700,000 euros. Among the investors who believe in Rent2Cash’s safe and early rental are Finanza.tech, a company listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the EGM segment (Euronext Growth Milan), and partners of leading international legal and consulting firms and business angels.

The Rent2Cash Model provides its users with immediate liquidity, anticipating up to 3 years of rent and transforming future payments into immediately available financial resources. By fully managing the relationship with the tenant on behalf of the landlord, the start-up protects the landlord in the event of insolvency and early termination, making the rental process more efficient and risk-free. This innovative company has no competitors in the Italian market and represents a new frontier at the intersection of finance and real estate. The Rent2Cash model can be applied to all properties, even those that are already rented out, and relieves the owner of all tasks relating to the collection of monthly payments, as well as those of finding a new tenant in the event of termination or the initiation of procedures to vacate the property when these become necessary.

How the technology works

The software makes use of a highly innovative proprietary algorithm called VAULT, which considers up to 50 criteria to comprehensively examine the situation of the property, the lease, the landlord and the tenant. Location and condition of the rental property, history and financial strength of the tenant, specificity of the lease: these are the main variables that are part of the assessment that allows Rent2Cash to provide dynamic and customised pricing for each future rental request, ensuring that the offer is always in line with the specific needs of the landlord.

Moreover, thanks to the algorithm and the digitisation of all procedures, Rent2Cash can carry out accurate and customised evaluations, eliminating bureaucracy and minimising the sending of documentation. The user can register on the Rent2Cash portal by filling out the online application form and directly uploading the strictly necessary documents. From that moment on, all financial tasks related to the property will be taken care of by Rent2Cash, which will manage the entire relationship with the tenant.

Rent2Cash

“We are ready to launch in April, the goal is to close 20,000 contracts by the end of 2028,” say founders Yilang Chen and Gianluca Fioranelli. Rent2Cash’s next steps, made possible by the recent financing, are the implementation of the proprietary technological platform and the refinement of the algorithm to make transactions increasingly smooth, accessible and integrated, the consolidation of the financial structure to guarantee increasingly secure and effective transactions, new hires to increase the team’s skills, and the strengthening of business and technological partnerships with companies with which synergies can be developed to the benefit of users. A new round after the EUR 700,000 round, Rent2Cash is planning a new pre-seed round, with a mixed equity-debt collection, to provide the company with additional resources for the acquisition of the first contracts, which is planned to start in April.