Mynd eyes institutions with tech platform revamp

Mynd Management, a tech-enabled rental home management business, has hired a team to spearhead its strategy to bring institutional investors into the sector with a digital platform that helps them make data-driven decisions.

Specialising in single-family rental homes in the US, Mynd helps to manages about 7,000 homes valued at a combined $1.4bn. The platform allows tenants to pay their rent, sign leases and get help with problems with their home virtually. Meanwhile, landlords have access to real-time data about their portfolios.

Most of Mynd’s clients are retail investors, but the company said it sees an opportunity in targeting institutions, helping them make more data-driven decisions.

About half of America’s major cities have more renters than homeowners. However, while 180 million Americans own stocks, only 10.6 million are real estate investors, suggesting that there is a significant gap to fill.

Expanding its executive team and “doubling down” on its management platform are part of Mynd’s strategic shift towards institutional investors that want to enter the single-family rental homes market but have not because they do not know how.

Each of the appointees has experience “revolutionising stale industries and adapting them to become tech-enabled services”, the company said.

The individuals are:

• Clelia Warburg Peters, venture partner at Bain Capital and president of Warburg Realty, joining as a board member
• Alejandro Ayestarán, joining as chief business officer. Ayestarán spent the last five years creating and scaling key business functions at automotive sales platform Shift Technologies
• Garret Albert, chief financial officer. Albert was previously VP of finance at One Medical
• David Zanaty, chief real estate officer. Having previously worked at Opendoor, Zanaty will lead Mynd’s institutional strategy and related business expansions.

Doug Brien, CEO and co-founder of Mynd, said: “Real estate is arguably the best investment class out there. The world is changing, and we’re working in an asset class that is incredibly attractive. Our vision is to help investors make more data-driven decisions and deploy their capital more intelligently. Each of these new executives fills a significant gap – and will help Mynd win in this space.

“By welcoming these four talented people, along with the increased institutional demand in the SFR space, we’re taking our vision to the next level, and connecting the whole ecosystem in a way that it never has been before.”