Canopy

Canopy is focused on the property rental market. Canopy provides a smartphone app that gives renters an instant digital rental profile, RentPassport, which replaces the need for large cash security deposits. The venture was previously known as InsureStreet.

RentPassport provides real-time referencing by enabling potential tenants to share their digital rental history with their agents or landlords.

Once a RentPassport has been created, Canopy also offers a free Rent Tracking service which enables renters to use their rent payments to build a positive credit history.

The startup also offers an alternative to traditional deposits. DepositFree insurance replaces the cash deposit with a one-time fee and an insurance policy backed by Hiscox.

In 2017 Canopy raised £1.6m, with lead investor Direct Line investing £1.3m of that. The startup stated it planned to use the funds to expand across the UK.

In October 2019 Canopy partnered with Plaid, a US-based company that enables businesses to integrate Open Banking into their offerings. Agents and landlords will be able to check potential tenants' credit score, historical financial data and overall affordability.The partnership means that Canopy can carry out checks on tenants from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.

Urban Jungle and Canopy partnered in March 2020 to provide contents insurance for renters from £5/month. Users just need to answer five questions on Canopy's mobile app to get a quote.

A few months later, in June, Canopy raised £2m in Seed funding from West Hill Capital. Canopy stated it would use the new funding to expand its partnerships with letting agents and expand its portfolio of financial products.

In November, Canopy and flexible car insurtech Cuvva partnered, as Canopy expands its network of recommended products to renters. The move comes less than a week after Canopy announced Pluto was its new chosen travel insurance provider.

In 2020, Canopy saw its Agent partnerships on its platform grow by 15x, whilst the number of renters on the platform grew by 21x.

In April 2021 Equifax announced it would work with Canopy to include rental payment data in its credit assessments.

Canopy partnered with OnTheMarket to offer 12-months free tenant referencing to their registered agents in May 2021.

In July 2021 Founder Tahir Farooqui stepped down from his role as CEO, however stated he would remain on the Board.

In Q3 2021, Canopy revealed it expected to close 2021 with 772 Agents and 120k renters.

Canopy is a former cohort member of Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab.