CirclePe

CirclePe Private Limited is a fintech company aiming to eliminate security deposits from India's rental market. Founded in Gurugram in 2022 by Navan Jaiswal and Ankur Yadav, the company provides a "Smart Renting" solution that allows credit-worthy tenants to move into a property with a zero-security deposit. Both founders are second-time entrepreneurs, with Yadav being an IIT-Delhi graduate and Jaiswal an IIM-K alumnus. Jaiswal's background includes roles in policy-making and founding a D2C skincare startup, while Yadav's experience spans electric mobility, apparel manufacturing, and leading enterprise business at Expand My Business.

The company operates on a membership-based model called the CirclePe Club. Tenants find a property through any source, and then undergo a quick trustworthiness check by CirclePe based on factors like their CIBIL score. Once a tenant is approved, CirclePe connects with the landlord and, instead of a traditional deposit, provides them with the advance rent for the entire lease term and a company guarantee to cover potential damages. For this service, tenants pay their monthly rent as a no-cost EMI with an added platform fee of 3-4%. Landlords receive the advance rent at a slight discount of 2-2.5%. This model is designed to ease the financial burden on tenants while unlocking capital and providing verified renters for landlords and co-living operators.

CirclePe has secured close to $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by OTP Ventures, with participation from investors such as 1947 Rise, iSeed, IIT Delhi, and Venture Catalyst. The round also included angel investors, with founders and CXOs from companies like BharatPe, OYO, and OfBusiness. The company aims to facilitate ₹100 crore in advance rentals and onboard 10,000 tenants by 2025.

Keywords: zero-deposit rentals, rental finance, property technology, fintech, Indian rental market, tenant verification, landlord solutions, smart renting, advance rent, no-cost EMI, real estate tech, lease financing, credit-based renting, rental market disruption, co-living operators, tenant screening, property rental platform, deposit-free housing, rental payments, financial services for real estate