Read Time: 3 minutes
Tech Topics In This Article: Fintech, Alabama startups
As a rental property owner, Taylor Peake saw firsthand how outdated and inconvenient rent payment systems could be. While many tenants still rely on checks or direct deposits, a growing number prefer mobile payment apps like Cash App or Venmo—services that aren’t seamlessly integrated into most property management platforms.
The FDIC reports that 60.8% of unbanked households and 24.5% of banked households use these apps to pay essential bills. Yet, property management software rarely supports these payment methods directly, leaving renters and landlords navigating inefficient workarounds. Current digital solutions either create unnecessary hassles for landlords, fail to provide renters with flexible options, or both.
“Like many businesses, the pandemic brought a unique set of challenges for our rental properties. Challenges with the postal service meant any physical mail, including money orders, were delayed in some cases for months. I reached out to some friends with residential real estate portfolios to ask how they handled payments. I heard feedback from property managers and landlords who accepted large volumes of physical mail or who were sending tenants to create financial credit-based accounts just to send their rent each month,” added Peake. “Some property management software solutions offer options for accepting ACH payments, but underbanked tenants or tenants looking for optionality in payments are left without a simple solution”
Peake saw an opportunity to modernize the process, giving tenants the freedom to pay with the tools they already use while making life easier for property managers.
Peake, alongside her co-founder Emily Hart, are looking to change the rental space through Birmingham, Alabama-based Occupi.
Occupi aggregates popular payment options, such as Cash App and Venmo, into one place for tenants to easily submit their rent. On top of collecting rent, landlords can use the app to advertise available rentals and screen tenant applications.
Get To Know The Occupi Team
Before launching Occupi, Peake was a co-founder of the software development agency MotionMobs in Alabama. Hart, a graduate of Samford University in Alabama, built up her career as a product strategist and marketer.
“In 2014, I had moved out to California on contract with Apple’s retail marketing department but had a couple friends working at [Peake’s] agency at the time,” Hart told Hypepotamus. “They needed someone in marketing to serve as a translator between non-technical clients and a highly technical team of developers, and both recommended me for the position. I moved back to Birmingham to take the job. We’re such opposites that the partnership blossomed. She looks at the big picture, and I focus on the operational details. It’s been a decade now, and I can’t wait for the next decade.”
Building Fintech in Birmingham
Occupi is one of several fintechs, including Quantalytix, KrillPay, and Allison (highlighted in Hypepotamus in 2022 when the startup was still based in Tampa), calling Birmingham, Alabama home.
Peake said that building an early-stage fintech in the city has been “better than we could have expected.”
“Our advisors, investors, and friends have gone out of their way to support our team and help us gain traction quickly,” Peake said, adding that Will Bryant, is the local Chapter President of NFO (National Fintech Organization) was helpful in pulling the co-founders into the local fintech community.
Local investors have also taken notice.
Occupi is currently wrapping up its seed funding round to onboard tech, regulatory, and financial talent. Innovate Alabama has already invested in the round via InvestAL, alongside other investors in real estate and tech, according to a press release.
“We’re raising capital to support building out our team. We are very fortunate to have already identified highly experienced leaders with backgrounds in housing, payments, and regulation. As a team, we are excited to connect with other real estate leaders and continue expanding Occupi’s reach,” added Hart.
