Startup Spotlight: Rentatee is redefining property management 

Welcome to Vancouver Tech Journal’s startup spotlight series, where we dive into companies building in Vancouver.

How do you hit the ground running in redefining outdated industry practices? 

The answer isn’t relying on data or scaling your tech stack. It’s intimately understanding the people behind the practices — which research shows is key to shaping and making innovation stick. 

For proptech startup Rentatee co-founder, Catherine Vracar, her head start arguably can’t be outrun.

Vracar practically grew up in the real estate industry. Her parents got into it after moving to Vancouver from Serbia during the war. Vracar’s mother worked her way up from building manager to marketing and property manager before starting her own rental leasing and property management company, Z Agency.

Vracar jokes that she joined in as early as five years old as she accompanied her mother to showings. She’d then follow a similar path to learning the ins and outs. Between studying political science and history at Concordia University, Vracar would take on various jobs that deepened her understanding of the problems that landlords and property managers face.

“I’ve seen many struggle to juggle multiple tasks and manage numerous requests from residents — especially when reliant on pen and paper, standard Excel sheets, and being tied to a computer,” shared Vracar. “This experience highlighted the demands of property management and the disconnect between industry needs and existing software solutions.”

The opportunity to create an all-in-one solution came when Vracar’s mother suggested she connect with Peter Smyrniotis, a VC, tech advisor, and operator who specializes in helping startups launch, grow, and scale.

Smyrniotis then suggested Vracar connect with Gurtaj Sandher, the president of a family office who was running into his own issues with property management. With all three bringing together decades of experience in entrepreneurship, real estate, and management, they teamed up to build Rentatee.

Vracar sat with the Vancouver Tech Journal to share Rentatee’s story for the first time ever as well as her future plans for the company.

What’s your elevator pitch?

Rentatee is an all-in-one property management platform that’s smart, simple, and data-driven and available on desktop and mobile. 

We cover landlords throughout the entire rental lifecycle — from leasing to management, maintenance to accounting, and beyond — providing actionable insights to ensure a seamless and efficient experience.

Among what sets us apart include our rent guarantee — ensuring landlords get paid even if tenants can’t pay rent. 

When did you start your company?

We started building Rentatee in 2021 during the pandemic.

What was the catalyst behind starting your company?

The catalyst behind starting Rentatee was observing critical issues in the property management industry that peaked during the pandemic. 

We noticed and experienced firsthand the lack of protection for landlords when tenants failed to pay rent. This led to the name Rentatee which stands for rent guarantee. 

My goal was to streamline the rental lifecycle and make property management mobile-friendly, intuitive, and easy-to-use rather than something that takes multiple clicks to complete — empowering individuals to manage their properties efficiently while on the go. 

What problem is Rentatee solving?

Rentatee is solving the problem of inefficient property management. 

Rentatee streamlines the rental lifecycle, making it mobile-friendly and allowing property managers to handle their responsibilities on the go anytime, anywhere.

Additionally, our rent guarantee provides landlords peace of mind and financial security, addressing issues still prevalent today. 

What markets are you in?

We’re in the property management market, focusing on landlords, developers, property managers, building caretakers, and tenants. 

We’re operational across Canada and will expand to the U.S. towards the end of the year.

How big is your team?

We’re a virtual lean team of three, along with our developers, bringing it up to around 10. 

Are you hiring?

We’re constantly on the lookout for new talent. 

We would love to hear from you if you’re passionate, gritty, curious, and enjoy working with others. Experience in property management and a knack for working with people are highly valued.

Have you raised money?

We’ve been bootstrapping the company on our own — investing as much money as possible into our digital assets and core technology.

Where do you want Rentatee to be in 3, 6, and 9 years?

• Three years: We will continue to expand our market reach, listen to customer feedback — which is extremely important to us — and develop advanced technologies to simplify property management further.

• Six years: We hope to be a leading property management platform widely known for being robust, smart, and user-friendly and for its various benefits.

• Nine years: Rentatee will be the go-to for rental leasing and management, continuously innovating and setting new standards that disrupt the status quo.

Looking back on the early days of starting Rentatee, what was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge was balancing time. 

I’m constantly pulled in different directions at the same time: creating workflows, managing people and teams, ensuring things go smoothly, making sure our teams have everything they need, so they don't get blocked, and overall planning, strategizing, and executing. 

Having high-priority tasks thrown at you at the last minute can sometimes be overwhelming.

Being a founder and leader can be hard, so I think it’s important to properly decipher and prioritize items on the ever-growing to-do list. It's also critical to make time to get some movement in, nourish your body, and learn that it’s okay to say no to things.

I have overcome this by learning to delegate tasks effectively and trust others to get things done. This approach not only improved efficiency but also fostered a collaborative environment — which was essential for our growth and success.

What do you find most rewarding about building Rentatee?

Happy customers, referrals from customers, and knowing that Rentatee is actually solving pain points by all those involved in the industry.

Our customers and their satisfaction are our top priority, so it’s been fulfilling to continue to find solutions to increasingly complex problems.

How can people connect with you?

They can connect with me on LinkedIn or via email.