Proptech Firm CasaPerks Raises an Initial Round but Doesn’t Mention Amounts

It’s rare that a company loudly announces a financing round without mentioning the type—like seed or series—at the top, or the amount. That’s what CasaPerks Technologies recently did, though it did claim that the round, whatever the type, was “over-subscribed” and would be used “to support the significant user and revenue growth that it experienced in 2022.”

“CasaPerks has over 250 globally recognized brands on its platform and has created unique and powerful tools to help property management improve its financial results by utilizing a world-class loyalty program similar to other sectors like airlines and hotels,” the company says in its release. It claims to have a “substantial sales pipeline” and expects to “use the funds from this round to continue to refine the product and convert those opportunities.”

The company does eventually mention that this was an “initial investment round,” though still not saying how much it initially was looking for or what was pledged.

CasaPerks claims to offer a tenant loyalty program similar to those in airlines and hotels. But there is a fundamental resounding difference in business models. Airlines and hotels depend on loyalty programs to help create repeat customers. An airline wants to book as much of a person’s future travel spending as possible. Hotels want repeat stays.

CasaPerks focuses on residential apartment owners and operators. Continuity of occupancy is important in multifamily. When people move, even though that may open opportunity to increase rent faster than with an existing tenant, it’s expensive. Aside from damages, there’s the necessary refresh that causes delays in getting someone new in and the more time that passes, the lower that year’s NOI. Increasing continuity should increase profits and probably valuation.

But there is a difference between providing incentive for consumers who make periodic, even if frequent, use of services to become return customers, and tenants who typically sign on for significant periods of use at a time, and where there are significant costs to changing housing providers.

The company’s website does make some interesting points, that points might deliver perceived long-term value in different ways than one-time signing concessions. It also mentions a survey of “thousands of renters” (without mentioning the methodology or sampling approach) in which big majorities of people who, from the answers, are apparently not currently living at places that implement the program, say that such a program would positively influence their experience.

Except, that type of market research question is about the least reliable, as people can’t typically provide reliable answers, as a lot of research in the field shows. They just don’t know, even if they think they do.