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Funnel Leasing, the artificial intelligence and automation-powered management proptech company that migrated to Tampa in 2022, closed a $32 million Series B-2 deal Monday.
Utah-based venture capital firm RET Ventures led the funding round, joined by California firm Trinity Ventures and a group of other investors. RET Ventures also led Funnel Leasing’s Series B round of $36 million in 2022, swelling the collective Series B raise round to more than $60 million.
“We traditionally invest in themes, backing technologies that can solve the most acute challenges for real estate operators, and Funnel is our flagship platform in self-leasing and one of our firm’s largest investments to date,” said John Helm, founder and partner at RET Ventures, in a prepared statement. “With their completed platform, owners and operators no longer need to use antiquated software to manage their renter journeys.”
The money will contribute to updating and expanding Funnel Leasing’s product offerings and digital management tools for leasing offices, like a virtual leasing agent, online leasing, onboarding and resident portal.
It will also go toward a “heavy investment” into expanding the sales team to distribute the product more broadly. The company is seeking to far exceed its customer base of 1 million professionally managed units. Previously, it had a two-member sales team out of more than 100 total employees, CEO Tyler Christiansen told Tampa Bay Inno.
“That’s been primarily because we’ve been in essentially a research and development mode, where we build the products with the customers, and then they use them. So the big change with this funding is that we’re building a big sales team,” Christiansen said.
In Christiansen’s view, the funding is also a way to keep the company on its desired growth trajectory as venture capital and economic markets experience a downturn.
The company gets a funding boost from an existing investor who believes in the Funnel Leasing model and a focus on growth rather than cost-cutting efficiencies, consolidation and layoffs, Christiansen said.
Remaining independent is essential for the company, Christiansen said. Large proptech companies acquire innovative companies, often leading to higher renting prices for no added value to the customer, he said. By keeping Funnel Leasing independent, the company can focus on providing value and overhauling the renting ecosystem through tech.
“If we had to do a termination or acquisition, like a lot of other companies, then the product would have stayed where it is, and we couldn’t expand the offering,” Christiansen said. “Now that we have this capital, we can take that product and focus on distributing it to more end users.”