'Company Of The Year' Announced By Stamford Chamber Of Commerce

STAMFORD, CT — Matrix Rental Solutions, the Stamford-based technology company whose mission is to improve access to fair and affordable housing far and wide, has been named "Company of the Year" by the Stamford Chamber of Commerce.

The company, which employs nine people, will be honored at the chamber's 36th annual meeting and awards ceremony on Sept. 28 at The Link located at 200 Elm St., in Stamford. Gov. Ned Lamont will serve as the keynote speaker and Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons will give opening remarks.

"When we found out about the Company of the Year Award, it was an amazing feeling," Matrix Rental Solutions Founder and CEO Sipho Simela told Patch. "It was, in my estimation, a confirmation that what we're doing works and what we're doing is very much needed in places like Stamford."

Simela, who is originally from Long Island, N.Y., founded Matrix in 2020 and moved the company to its headquarters in Stamford at 700 Canal St., in 2021.

"When we started the company 2.5 years ago we were laser-focused on this idea of improving the quality of the [rental] application process," said Simela, who looked at how the Common Application transformed the way people apply to colleges and universities.

Matrix developed the first universal rental application to streamline the rental process and make it more equitable and convenient for renters and landlords. There is a single fee, and Matrix uses real-time data to produce "an ability to pay" score.

"It's all about access. If you bring down some of what could be looked at as unnecessary walls, you're giving people an opportunity, and that's really what sparked our initial thesis of, 'How do we create this universal rental application?'" Simela said. "There are so many would-be homeowners that are really just stuck in the limbo of the rental market right now. If you look at the downstream impact and what that does particularly to individuals with low to moderate income, there's a big gap."

The application also makes it easier for people to accept housing vouchers.

Matrix's proprietary scoring model called Matrix Asset & Income Analysis (MAIA) produces more thorough, accurate, inclusive tenant scoring that allows landlords and property managers to underwrite and approve tenants in 14.5 minutes, rather than the average screening time of three to five business days, according to Matrix.

"That 14.5 minutes is saving both the owners and the operators, as well as the consumers or the residents a significant amount of time and money in the process," Simela said. "We like to say it's a two-sided benefit. We're actually out there to help the general ecosystem as opposed to one particular part of it."

As a result of the company's success, Simela was asked to serve as a member on the Bipartisan Policy Center Executive Council on Housing Affordability on a national level with current executive members representing Airbnb, Amazon, Pretium, USAA, Weyerhaeuser and Zillow.

In April, Matrix also announced the appointment of housing policy veterans Joseph M. Ventrone and Rick Gentry to its board of advisors.

Simela was also previously named to the Westfair Business Journal 40 under 40 list.

"Sipho is an innovative entrepreneur that always searches for change, responds to situations, and creates opportunities as the business continues to grow, potentially making a difference in millions of people’s lives for Housing Affordability," noted Stamford Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heather Cavanagh, in a recent news release.

Simela, a first-generation Zimbabwean immigrant, said housing has always been an issue "near and dear" to his heart.

"I have many friends and family that really struggled when they came to the United States with the idea of housing. How do you prove your creditworthiness, how do you even go about the application process?" he said.

After a 10-year career in capital markets, Simela entered the fintech and proptech worlds.

"I had always wanted to be a founder. I always wanted to help make a bigger change," he noted, adding that his parents instilled in him the importance of stewardship at a young age.

"The same way they spend so much of their time and resources helping people at a more individual level, I feel we're almost obligated as innovators here in tech to deploy our resources for the greater good," Simela said.

Simela praised the Stamford Chamber of Commerce and Simmons for welcoming him to the community.

"We're excited because when we look across Stamford, we see such a diverse socioeconomic universe, but all centered around such a strong economy," Simela said. "There's this idea that people want to live, work and play in the same area, and how do you now make the process of living that much easier? That's what we're focused on."

The Member of The Year Award will also be presented at the chamber's Sept. 28 event to Tina Mazzullo, the area director of sales & marketing for Residence Inn and Courtyard Marriott Stamford.

For more information on the event, click here.

For more on Matrix Rental Solutions, check out their website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.