More than three in four Americans use payment apps like Cash App, Paypal, Venmo or a mobile wallet to pay bills or send money to others, according to the Pew Research Center. Financial technology tools like these, known as fintechs, have changed the financial landscape over the past few years.
For millions of Americans, rent is the largest expense in their monthly budgets. And many renters don’t have the option to pay rent in the fast, simple way they’ve grown accustomed to paying other bills — through a mobile app.
The reasons are complex. Many landlords may want to accept rent via Venmo or Cash App, but those payments are difficult to track in accounting systems and could cause problems at tax time. Also, because they’re not specifically designed for rent payments, such platforms don’t provide automatic late fees, keep up with security deposits, or simplify other property management-related financial tasks.
These are the types of payment challenges that led to the founding of Occupi, an Alabama-based fintech company focused on payment solutions for property management. The business idea developed “as a result of my personal experience as an owner and operator of affordable housing communities facing payment challenges that I couldn’t solve with what was already available,” says Taylor Peake, CEO, who co-founded the company with COO Emily Hart. “We built Occupi to bridge the gap between the property manager’s workflow and the financial tools residents use every day.”
After launching commercially in August 2024, Occupi recently completed a seed-funding round that raised $3.1 million. With just one year of business under its belt and a successful funding round, the company has plans to continue to revolutionize the rent payment landscape.
Fulfilling a Need
Fintech companies have sprung up in recent years to meet a variety of needs, including budgeting, investing and person-to-person payments. Occupi fits into a unique fintech space that connects property managers with tenants and prospective tenants, providing secure, trackable payments as well as screening potential tenants.
Peake and Hart say their niche in the fintech space fulfills an unmet need. “Payment optionality is a necessity, not just a convenience,” Hart says. “There is an overabundance of innovation for luxury renters, from top-end condo communities to vacation rentals, while very little exists for the everyday American. At Occupi, we believe everyone, no matter their income, should always have access to the payment options that work for them, including alternative wallets like Cash App, Venmo and Chime.”
Occupi’s payment and screening platform leverages AI to address a critical pain point in property management by facilitating seamless payment options, including traditional and alternative methods like digital cash wallets, posted across multiple property management systems. With the Occupi platform, property managers are able to offer residents better payment options while maintaining operational efficiency, Hart says. The company’s AI-powered platform facilitates more than 20 payment methods that post to the property manager’s general ledger.
Since Occupi completed beta testing and launched commercially in August 2024, it has experienced strong demand, with new property portfolios onboarding every month. “Today, we serve communities across more than 10 states, supporting property managers in manufactured housing, multi-family, single-family, housing authorities and HOAs, with integrations across multiple property management systems,” Peake says.
Plans for the Seed Funding
The capital secured through the funding round positions Occupi to continue growing and take advantage of big opportunities to scale. For example, the infusion of capital already has allowed Occupi to hire top talent roles including experienced payment and property technology engineers across the country and in the Birmingham market.
“We’re bold about our growth trajectory, and that requires top talent and resources to achieve,” Hart says. “By securing our seed raise, we’ve been able to hire high-demand technical roles from companies like Trulia, GrubHub and more, and now we can shift our attention fully to onboarding new customers and adding new features to better serve communities across the country.”
Early-stage investment firms Fenway Summer and Assurant Ventures co-led Occupi’s recent funding round. The funding round also included strategic investments from social impact venture capital firms Halcyon Venture Partners and Sorenson Impact Foundation, as well as private investors, which represent a diverse nationwide footprint of partnerships including investors from the Washington D.C. area, Georgia, Utah and Alabama. The oversubscribed round positions Occupi to scale its payment and screening solutions across affordable and student housing sectors in multi-family, manufactured and single-family markets.
The institutional and individual investors who participated in Occupi’s funding round represent deep expertise in finance, housing and compliance, “which strengthens our foundation,” says Josh Hornady, Occupi’s chief legal officer. “Their backing equips us to grow securely, compliantly and with lasting impact.”
The funding round was structured as a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), which is a legal contract that allows an investor to purchase equity in a company at a future date. That future date is tied to specific parameters, such as a liquidity event, that will trigger the SAFE’s conversion into shares. There is no maturity date or interest payment, and the investors have no voting rights or ownership in the company until the SAFE converts.
However, Occupi leaders expect to benefit from their investors beyond the capital infusion. “Each individual and institutional investor brings a unique strategic advantage to the table to expand Occupi’s impact including industry connections, integration opportunities and future partnerships,” Peake says. “Our investors have already proven themselves to be fierce advocates for Occupi, for which we are deeply grateful.”
In addition to accelerating its growth trajectory through strategic hiring, Occupi will also use the funding to expand its features. That effort includes a recent partnership with the Alabama Power Foundation to develop specialized features addressing the unique requirements of affordable housing assistance programs.
Looking Ahead
With a first successful funding round behind them, Peake and Hart are busy mapping out their plans for future growth. “Our roadmap is full of financial tools designed to be accessible and inclusive, and our investors will help us bring that vision to life,” Hart says. “Occupi is built on genuine partnership, and we’re lucky to work with collaborators who care as deeply about connection and impact as we do.”
Overall, the company is committed to simplifying payments to allow property managers and residents to focus on other priorities. As the platform grows, the goal is to continue building tools that will keep the entire system efficient, reliable and accessible, Peake says.
“Nothing is more humbling than raising startup capital in 2025, but we were fortunately positioned to be selective with our partners,” Peake adds. “We could not be happier with our venture partners and private investors, who have been incredible assets as we scale Occupi’s payment and screening platform.”
Nancy Mann Jackson is a Madison-based freelance contributor to Business Alabama.
This article appears in the October 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
