Proptech Startup Crib Acquires Venture Catalyst-Backed CirclePe

AI-property management startup Crib App has acquired rent financing platform CirclePe to embed zero-deposit renting and upfront operator financing capabilities within its platform.

Founded in 2021 by Sunny Garg, Shaifali Jain, and Archit Chauhan, Crib operates as a management tool for co-living spaces, hostels, and paying guests. Property operators can use the platform to manage occupancy, payments, residents, and operations.

It claims to have onboarded 2,500 property operators who manage a cumulative $1 Bn in rent. It manages end-to-end operations of these properties including inventory, agreements, onboarding, invoicing, collections, renewals and move-outs.

Now, tenants moving into properties managed by Crib will be able to utilise CirclePe’s financing offerings directly to skip paying the entire deposit upfront and instead pay it in monthly instalments. CirclePe, in turn, also pays operators rent and deposit upfront, providing them with capital to grow their business.

CirclePe on the other hand was founded by Navan Jaiswal and Ankur Yadav in 2024 and operates as a rent financing platform that allows tenants to rent properties without submitting a security deposit and pays operators their rent upfront. Some of its client property chains include Housr, Blossom Stayz, Kots World and Livstations.

It has raised $1.5 Mn in funding till date from investors including IIT Delhi, OTP Venture Partners and Venture Catalysts.

CirclePe partners with NBFCs to finance the deposit or rent commitment by tenants, disbursing upfront to the operator while the tenant repays in smaller monthly amounts.

Through the combination of both platforms, renters would be able to forgo the rental deposit while operators will receive financing for deposit and rent upfront to free up working capital.

Since Crib already has access to the distribution and operational data of its operators, it would be able to directly embed financing into the existing tech infrastructure and scale the platform faster.

The proptech startup plans to utilise CirclePe’s user aggregated data to improve its underwriting.

Crib operates in a fast growing property management sector which is currently dominated by players like market leader NoBroker, along with players like RentOk and ManagR.

On the other hand, rental financing has also become popular in recent years as security deposits in metro cities have risen to more than six months of rent to be paid upfront, which locks in significant cash for tenants. Some players in the space include Flent and RentenPe.

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