Lighthouse

Cashback is a rewards system that encourages you to use credit cards. But what if the same incentive was applied to renting an apartment?

That’s the idea behind Lighthouse, a venture-backed real-estate technology startup.

In a nutshell, this company gives you cash back when you find an apartment using its online marketplace. Simply browse more than 80,000 apartment listings, and apply for the one you want. Add Lighthouse as a referral on your application, and if you sign a lease and move in, you’ll earn up to $1,000 cash back.

The incentive is Lighthouse’s way to differentiate itself from a slew of competitors. After all, there are dozens of apartment-listing websites out there. And although it’s a huge market — there are more than forty-four million rentals in America — the push to attract the attention of potential renters is competitive.

Lighthouse makes it easy to find a place for rent, and offers cash-back to those who move in as a result of the company’s marketplace. Here’s how its business works:

Lighthouse helps apartments and multi-family units fill vacancies by listing them on its marketplace. If a renter moves in, Lighthouse earns a commission and shares part of it with the renter to fulfill its cash-back promise.

This creates a win-win-win situation: The apartment complex fills a vacancy, Lighthouse earns revenue, and the renter moves into a place and receives cash back.

Lighthouse was founded in 2019. The Dallas-based company now operates in four major Texas markets: Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.

To-date, Lighthouse has raised more than five million dollars from investors, including venture-capital firms Graph Ventures, Oceans, and Next Coast Ventures. And in 2023, the company acquired UMoveFree, an apartment-rental agency, which boosted Lighthouse’s cumulative revenues to more than six million dollars.

As it scales, Lighthouse aims to expand to markets including Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, and Orlando.

Team Background

Matt See - Co-Founder & CEO

Prior to starting Lighthouse, Matt was an associate with Dodge & Cox, an investment-management firm. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Pennsylvania.

Alan Chang - Co-Founder & Director

Alan has experience in real-estate, having served as the first employee for Airbnb Asia, where he led market expansion in the region and was responsible for managing Airbnb’s business in Northeast Asia.

Prior to that, he co-founded Chicken Now, a quick-service restaurant business, where he focused on real-estate expansion and operations. Before that, he was an analyst with Lehman Brothers, an investment-banking business.

Alan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Miami and studied International Finance at The London School of Economics.

Co-Investors