Company: Canopy
Website: https://www.canopy.rent/
Founder: Tahir Farooqui
Business: Helping renters boost their credit score.
The London-based startup has a mission: to completely revolutionise the world of renting in the UK. How is it achieving this? Through its unique RentPassport system, enabling renters across the country to boost their credit score, and all they need to do is pay their rent on time to their landlord, as they would normally, and it is supported by HM Treasury.
The company has partnered with Experian to allow tenants and landlords to report their successful monthly payments in order to improve their respective credit scores. The overall result means that tenants can build up their credit rating, improving their chances of getting a mortgage and other affordable credit in the future. After all, paying rent on time is a strong indicator of creditworthiness, but is not something that has been recorded or contributed to a credit score. Until now.
The founder of Canopy, Tahir Farooqui, came up with the idea having previously experienced renting all around the world, and realising that in every country a deposit was needed. It was also inspired by his brother’s difficult finding somewhere to rent after graduating, to cost. Farooqui wanted to tackle what has become a very real problem across the world (and particularly in the UK, where rents have increased by 20%, but wages have only risen by 5%), and came up with the amazing notion of a deposit-free renters’ insurance.
With the RentPassport (which users can get by downloading the Canopy app or using the web application), renters no longer need to find a huge cash lump sump when paying for a deposit (the average amount needed in London has now reached a staggering £2,700 each). Instead, people can simply purchase insurance through Hiscox, known as a DepositFree cover.
