resident-retention
(4)
Renew
Renew is a New York-based proptech company that builds an AI-powered resident retention platform for multifamily and single-family rental operators. Founded in 2021 by Rob Hayden and Kevin Murphy, Renew treats the lease-renewal moment as a strategic lever: its software surfaces early churn signals, automates the renewal workflow, and - through the industry's first Resident Referral Network - lets operators keep residents inside their portfolio even when they move. The company raised a $12M Series A in October 2025 to scale the platform.
Rob Hayden
Rob Hayden is the CEO and co-founder of Renew, a New York based AI powered retention platform for multifamily and single family rental operators. He co-founded the company in 2021 with Kevin Murphy after both worked together at rental insurance startup Jetty. In October 2025 Renew closed a $12 million Series A led by Haymaker Ventures with participation from Goldcrest Capital and Upfront Ventures, bringing total funding to roughly $20 million and financing the launch of the industry's first Resident Referral Network.
Cobu
Cobu is a Boston-based proptech company that turns apartment residents into a real community - and turns that community into occupancy. Its resident-powered, AI-enabled platform runs building-wide chats, interest groups, in-person events, and always-on Google review and referral outreach, backed by a team of virtual community managers. For renters it fights isolation; for owners and operators it drives signed leases, higher renewals, better online reputation, and less busywork for on-site teams. Founded in 2018 as Doorbell, Cobu is used across dozens of U.S. states and by many of the country's largest multifamily operators.
Benjamin Pleat
Benjamin (Ben) Pleat is the CEO and co-founder of Cobu, a Boston-based resident-engagement platform that turns apartment buildings into actual communities. After watching his extroverted mother feel isolated in a well-appointed Manhattan building - and learning that apartment owners bleed money to roughly 50% annual tenant churn - he built a company on a simple bet: a single friend in your building makes you 30%+ more likely to renew your lease. A Harvard economics grad who passed through WeWork's growth team and Goldman Sachs' real estate private equity group, Pleat now leads a company that has powered community in tens of thousands of apartment homes by getting neighbors into the same room for poker nights, potlucks, and chef dinners.