# Ben Pleat

> Ben Pleat, also publicly known as Benjamin Pleat, is the Boston-based CEO and co-founder of Cobu, now branded CobuAI. A Harvard economics graduate with experience at WeWork and Goldman Sachs, he built a business around helping apartment residents meet their neighbors and helping operators improve engagement, retention and leasing.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Cobu (CobuAI)
- **Organizations:** Cobu (CobuAI; formerly Doorbell), TAVtech, WeWork, Goldman Sachs, Harvard Ventures
- **Education:** A.B., Economics, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Cobu, now branded CobuAI., Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Local: Boston in 2023., Led Cobu through Techstars Boston 2020.

## Career timeline

- **Dates not specified** — Worked on WeWork’s growth team and in Goldman Sachs real estate private equity; led VentureWorks at Harvard Ventures and co-founded TAVtech. Exact employment dates are not established by the cited interviews.
- **2017** — Harvard profiled Pleat and classmate Steven Petteruti developing Doorbell; Pleat was an economics senior in the class of 2017.
- **2018** — Pleat later recalled nearly 100 firms declining a fundraising request.
- **2019** — Publicly leading Cobu, previously Doorbell; Jo Tango announced an angel investment on September 20.
- **2020** — Cobu participated in Techstars Boston.
- **2021** — Reported more than 30,000 apartment homes and operations across more than 43 cities in the United States and Canada.
- **2023** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Local: Boston.
- **2025** — Discussed retention priorities with Canopy Analytics and resident-generated content on The Apartment Department.
- **2026** — Entrata announced Cobu’s integration in Homebody on March 5; the current company website presents the business as CobuAI.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Cobu, now branded CobuAI.
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Local: Boston in 2023.
- Led Cobu through Techstars Boston 2020.
- Reported surpassing 30,000 apartment homes in February 2021.
- Co-founded TAVtech, a coding academy.
- Cobu partnered with Entrata to embed resident engagement in Homebody in March 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Entrata announced Cobu’s integration into its Homebody resident app on March 5; the announcement identifies Pleat as CEO and co-founder.
- **2026-02** — A February 6 company blog post credited to Pleat and labeled AI-enhanced describes using resident participation to help renters assess community life.
- **2025-12** — Appeared on The Apartment Department to discuss resident-generated content and apartment marketing.
- **2025-09** — Appeared in Canopy Analytics’ discussion of retention budgets and resident experience.

## Links

- Website: https://www.cobuai.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pleat/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ben-pleat
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21