The news: Latchel raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Allegion Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the publicly-traded security equipment manufacturer.
The product: The Seattle-area startup sells software to landlords and property management firms, letting users facilitate tenant requests, invoice service providers and offer renters insurance. Latchel mostly targets long-term single-family rental properties, serving more than 100,000 rental units nationwide.
“Latchel continues to push services into the multifamily market, and Allegion Ventures’ knowledge of building access in the space is incredibly valuable to our team as we work to make a big difference for property managers looking to operate at the next level,” Latchel co-founder and CEO Ethan Lieber said in a statement.
The tailwinds: Demand for Latchel has grown in recent years as private equity and Wall Street firms have bought up large quantities of single-family rental properties. The institutional investors rely on third-party property management firms as a platform to facilitate their services.
The investor: Allegion sells security tech for doors, such as locks and knobs, as well as software that interacts with those products. The firm’s 5-year-old venture arm launched a $100 million fund in 2021, announcing at the time that it would write checks in the range of $500,000 to $10 million. Allegion Ventures’ most recent investment was in the self storage startup Stuf, which closed a $11 million round in February. Terms of the Latchel deal were not disclosed.
“We have common ground in our desire to leverage technology to provide better solutions and bridge physical and digital experiences,” Allegion Ventures Principal John Goodwin said in a statement.
The founders: Latchel was co-founded in 2016 by Lieber, COO Will Gordon, and Engineering Lead Jullian Chavez. Before Latchel, Lieber was director of product at One Planet Ops, creator of websites including Contractors.com and HomeGain. Gordon worked at Amazon as a manager on delivery teams, while Chavez has built mobile and web apps, including Picmonic.
The company is officially headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., though its “center of gravity” is in Seattle, according to Gordon.
The backers: The startup’s last financing came in July, when it raised $16.7 million in a round led by F-Prime Capital. Other backers include Y Combinator, RiverPark Ventures, MetaProp, Bain Capital Ventures, 1984 Ventures, and Hack VC, among others.
