GrottoAI Raises $10M Seed Round Led by ICONIQ

I'm beyond proud to share GrottoAI's $10M seed round led by ICONIQ with participation from Asymmetric. We’re building AI that drives bottom-line impact by helping humans shine during one of life's most important moments: finding a home.

Grotto supercharges leasing agents during human-to-human interactions with prospective renters, enabling them to build better relationships and rapport — the things we know drive sales, and the things that AI alone can't do. By doing this, we will restore $500B of value erased from the economy due to apartments sitting vacant.

Leasing an apartment, as one of our customers put it, is “the most intimate decision most people will make all year.” And while the rest of the AI industry focuses on automating away grunt work to “make time for the moments that matter most”, we’re building a world for *exactly* those moments that matter most.It’s working.

Leasing an apartment, as one of our customers put it, is “the most intimate decision most people will make all year.”

Less than a year into our existence, we’re already partnered with the largest apartment owners and developers in the country, driving massive, bottom-line impact (more details on that in the coming weeks).And the feedback I’m most proud of? Customers have told us we’re “the best vendor they’ve ever worked with.”

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To do this, we’ve assembled a superstar team. Industry veteran and founding advisor, David Dear, has been instrumental in shaping Grotto’s vision. Other industry legends, like Avi Dorfman (co-founder of Compass real estate) and Caren Maio (co-founder of Funnel Leasing and Get100) also pulled up a seat at the table as investors in the round. Michael Saltzman, our former CEO at EvolutionIQ and now good friend, has also played a pivotal role in shaping Grotto’s early form.And a massive, massive thank you to the group who took a leap of faith to build this world with us. Tengbo Li, Rob Biederman and Nancy Chou, who saw our vision as clearly as we did. Future-thinking industry veterans, like Josh Draughn and Jamie Gorski who are pushing multifamily forward with us. The deeply wise Dennis Lyandres.

Grotto is "the best vendor I've ever worked with."

At Grotto, we’re creating a world where AI helps humans shine in the moments that matter most. A world where people leave every conversation feeling more connected. That’s the world I’m deeply excited about, and there’s nothing Ben and I would rather be doing with our lives than building towards it.

And if you want to join us on this journey – one of combining a relentless focus on bottom-line impact with using AI to help humans show up as the best version of themselves – please check out our jobs here. We're hiring, and we’d love to hear from you.

Read the press release here.