Introducing our new name: EppoPay is now Circa!

Over the past few months, our team has successfully moved from planning to production. As you’ve noticed, we also made a big move from EppoPay to Circa.

From building a fully functional product to laying a scalable internal foundation to implementing a modern consumer brand, we’ve been working hard. With a lean mindset supercharged with scrappy startup creativity, our potential for impact and success has never been stronger.

I’m thrilled to share with you our achievements to date, let you know where we are heading, and how you can support our next steps.

Building Stronger Communities through Payment Innovation

As a mission-driven company, it is essential that we place our mission at the center of all that we do. Our mission is simple, meaningful, and timely: build stronger communities through payment innovation. Still early in our journey, we seized the opportunity to develop a brand centered on that mission to better connect us to our own community of property owners, managers, residents, industry groups, community support organizations, and investors.

Circa is the Latin word for “approximately,” usually in reference to date, a nod to our core offering of flexibility for rent payments. Circa also evokes the notion of circularity and community, giving subtle support to our core mission.

Our logo, font, and color palette were chosen based on scientific analysis of visual response, consumer psychology, and accessibility standards. Our goal was to build a brand that is appealing, approachable, and accessible to all.

Please visit our new website: https://wearecirca.com.

Launching PropTech in An Unprecedented Era

The pandemic is having disastrous effects on many industries. The residential real estate industry has been affected at every level. With so many Americans at risk – not only of coronavirus but also of financial hardship – property owners are being forced to reckon with a nationwide housing crisis, a crisis born from pre-pandemic issues exacerbated by unprecedented unemployment and economic turmoil. 

The urgent need for change and an inspiring upswelling of political activism is shining a light on the residential real estate market – and it’s working. The balance of power between property owners and residents is shifting. Owners are not as confident they can quickly fill a vacant apartment, there is a moratorium on evictions, and residents are finding a collective voice.

This rapidly evolving situation is giving Circa an opening to introduce community-focused rent collection to property owners in need of new ideas.

On an immediate, tangible basis, Circa accommodates partial payment collection, a feature that most property management systems do not have.  Partial payment discussions are happening between property managers and residents every day, but the administration of these arrangements is handled offline on a manual basis. This one aspect of our system addresses a problem made urgent overnight.

Looking forward, Circa offers property owners a way to “reset” their approach to collections in a way that addresses where residents are today. Our solution is efficient, modern, and compassionate. We have designed our model to be a win-win for residents and properties alike, and properties acutely understand that the industry will not simply go back to the way things used to be.

Focusing on Sales And Delivering Client Impact

We are still a small fish in a very big sea, but our momentum is palpable. We piloted with a property owner that owns and operates 14 mobile home parks in New York with a combined 800 residents under management. In September, we marketed to one of his communities to test our concept. One became three, and now we are live across all 14 of his communities after an enthusiastic response from his residents and his managers. The feedback from the residents is particularly validating. Here is what they are saying:
 

“I like to pay on time, but it’s nice to know that there is flexibility.”

“This is much more reliable than sending checks that get lost in the mail.”

“It was really easy to get set up, thank you!"

We are leveraging this positive feedback and traction to present Circa to additional properties in our pipeline.

When we committed to this idea, we committed to delivering residents and their property managers a dignified product that solves critical pain points and meets the highest possible standards in terms of accessibility, functionality, performance, and design. Like any startup, there are resource constraints and competing priorities; but despite those realities, our team stayed true to our initial convictions and achieved what few young companies have.

Thank you again for your support. Our mission has never been more relevant, our team has never been stronger, and we’ve never been more ready to take Circa to the next level.

Sincerely,
Leslie Hyman, CEO

Febuary 2021