Flexible Payments for Rent are on their way!
Happy New Year 🎇
At EppoPay, we have much to be happy about. We are thrilled to announce that we are closing our first round of seed funding. 🎉The interest level is motivating - we were oversubscribed - 26% over our goal! A special thanks and very warm welcome to those who invested - we are honored to have you on board. And, for those who did not invest this round, there will be a next time to become part of the EppoPay family. With the first shot of capital, EppoPay is on its way to grow, influence and make a difference in the world. We are committed to our mission and will continue to communicate as we go.
Let’s take a moment to look back at 2019:
❄️Between February and May: After a flurry of white-board sessions, Heman and I landed on our business model. After that we went into execution mode.
🌞June through August: We finalized our business plan. We created the company name and logo and EppoPay was born.
🍃September: We set up the EppoPay entity, establishing the LLC in Connecticut and legally formalized our partnership by signing our Operating Agreement. We started communicating with our Friends & Family by sending you monthly updates 🙂.
🍁October: We started asking for money to build the EppoPay system. We began discussions with Robin Hood, NYU Furman Center and multi-family landlords interested in EppoPay.
🎉November and December: We talked about EppoPay all the time, pitch after pitch and our Friends & Family members listened. By the end of 2019 we had commitments for $190,000. Heman and team completed phase 1 of design!
I don’t want to lose sight of our mission. While the stock market reaches new highs, the strain of paying bills for the other 99% remains. The affordable housing crisis in America looms large. Over the past 4 decades, housing costs have soared , incomes of the poor have fallen and Federal assistance program funding has diminished, leaving millions out in the cold. EppoPay cannot solve a national problem, but providing those in need with a way to smooth out payments is an important part of the solution.
Time to test your knowledge of the market
1. There has been increasing interest in Prop Tech (or innovation/technology in the real estate industry) What was the amount of investment in real estate tech companies in just the first half of 2019?
a. Just over $3B
b. Just under $13B
c. Just under $23B
2. According to the WSJ it costs over 5X to pay by check vs online payment. Of the 43M renters in America, what % pay rent by check?
a. 50%
b. 75%
c. 90%
3. How many severely burdened households (paying more than 50 percent of income for housing) are there in America?
a. 11M
b. 15M
c. 3M
Here's what comes next:
The pressure's on all around - We need to design and build the tech, content, UX, UI and test. Build, build, build!
It's time to select our first landlords to test the EppoPay smoothing system. The interest is building; great partners are everything!
Continue working with NYU Furman Center and Robin Hood to design a pilot for New York City landlords. Maintain and develop those meaningful business relationships.
Leslie Hyman
EppoPay™ Update 5
January 2020
Answers 1.b 2. c 3. a
