“Can an operator-funded vertical SaaS become the connected OS for independent self-storage by owning payments, operations, and an open AI-ready API layer?”
Tenant Inc. was founded in 2019 by self-storage operators led by Lance Watkins (former CEO of Storelocal) after a legacy self-storage software provider imposed restrictions the operator community rejected. The underlying technology had been developed inside Storelocal since 2009 and was licensed to the new company. The strategy is operator-funded, operator-built vertical SaaS — three engines (Hummingbird PMS, Mariposa rental/checkout, Nectar open API) — with embedded payments (ACH + card processing via its own 'Payment Processor') as the core financial rail and a 40+ vendor integration ecosystem rather than becoming a bank itself.
Tenant Inc processes payments through Tenant Payment Processor (self-operated). Disclosed money-movement rails: ACH.
Tenant Inc integrates with QuickBooks.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Tenant Inc's stack: Payments / PSP (Tenant Payment Processor (self-operated)); Money movement (ACH); Accounting (QuickBooks).
Tenant Inc was founded by Lance Watkins and is founded in 2019, headquartered in Irvine, California, United States.
Tenant Inc has raised $60M+ in total (latest round: Operator-funded).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Tenant Inc and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.