How to solve a specific problem for a specific niche

Jonathan Kite, Ryan McMillan & Will Brugh

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Updated: November 19th, 2023

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Rent Ready is a platform that helps coordinate the process of preparing apartments for rent, founded in 2016 by Jonathan Kite, Ryan McMillan, and Will Brugh.

The startup was successful in becoming a single-stop go-between for apartment properties in need of turnover services in the Charlotte region, Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta.

Ryan McMillan found the industry to be exceedingly analog while working as an on-site manager at an apartment complex. He approached Jonathan Kite and Will Brugh to build an end-to-end platform that connects apartment communities with the vendors they need.

Jonathan Kite, the CEO and Co-Founder of Rent Ready, is a tech-savvy individual with a background in technology. With six years of experience at Microsoft, Kite is passionate about using technology to disrupt outdated processes and apply it to unique business models.

The startup introduces a modern solution to an age-old apartment industry problem, connecting community staff with service professionals to schedule work orders for all turn services such as painting, cleaning, wall repairs, tub resurfacing, and more.

Rent Ready was founded in response to the disjointed and time-consuming process of preparing apartments for rent, which often involves coordinating multiple vendors. It aimed to simplify and streamline this process by acting as a single-source partner for onsite apartment staff.

Rent Ready raised a $1.5 million seed funding in 2018. Later it announced a $10 million Series A investment led by Grotech Ventures in 2021 with participation from prior investors, including CreativeCo Capital, as well as six new institutional investors.

Interesting Facts:

Rent Ready has a $4.5M ARR revenue and hopes to double it in a year.
Rent Ready helps apartment builders reduce overhead by 75%
It allows managers to receive one invoice and handle the allocation of funds to contractors, reducing invoicing by more than 50% per month
The company provides real-time notifications for add-on requests, with the ability to view requests with pictures and estimated costs and approve or reject them directly in the portal
Rent Ready allows for easy navigation between various properties and the ability to customize and manage the turn board for each property.