Gen Z careers now begin with internships, short contracts, and moves between cities, yet most landlords still demand a 12-month lease and income worth 40 times the monthly rent. With Manhattan rents averaging $5,500 and entry-level pay growing at half the pace of rent, young renters stopped waiting for the traditional market to adapt and built a shadow market of their own across Facebook groups, Instagram, and WhatsApp. snag gives that informal market the structure it lacks, filling the gap between short-term platforms like Airbnb and long-term listing sites like Zillow. The Brooklyn-based marketplace focuses on rooms, sublets, and lease takeovers, verifies every lister by matching a 3D face scan to a government ID, holds rent and deposits in escrow, and builds video calls and optional background checks into the booking flow. AI agents turn three photos into a complete listing with pricing and a written description, then nudge renters and listers toward an agreement directly in the chat. Since launching ten months ago, snag has grown 30% month-over-month to more than 4,500 New York City listings, and the average listing finds a renter in three days.
AlleyWatch sat down with snag cofounder and CEO Selin Sonmez to learn more about the business, its future plans, recent fudning round, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised a $4M Seed round led by Slow Ventures, with participation from Precursor Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, and Chamaeleon. We also brought on a strong angel roster including Brian Kelly (The Points Guy) and Sloane Stephens. The round closed in ten weeks and was oversubscribed.
Tell us about the product or service that snag offers.
snag is a marketplace where Gen Z finds affordable, flexible housing, without signing a traditional year-long lease. About 80% of our listings are rooms, because that’s the most affordable way to live in the city, and no traditional residential platform will list a room.
The platform matches renters with listings, facilitates peer-to-peer agreements, and processes rent and security deposits through escrow so no money ever moves through Venmo or disappears into the void. Every listing requires ID verification with a real 3D face scan matched to a government ID, with optional background and credit score checks. Video calls are built in so renters and leaseholders can meet before committing and our AI agent actively nudges conversations toward that step.
On the listing side, you take three photos, and our AI creates a listing for you including pricing suggestions, written description, and amenity checklist. Renters only need to put down a security deposit to book; first month’s rent is charged three days before move-in. No first, last, and security upfront. No 40x the rent income requirements. The average listing gets snagged in three days.
What inspired the start of snag?
Before snag, my cofounder Niko Georgantas and I built a social network for residents inside apartment buildings as a way for people in the same building to connect and build community. It grew to ten thousand buildings across the U.S., serving primarily young renters in major cities.
What we kept seeing was what people actually used the platform for: sublets, rooms, lease takeovers. They were tired of the traditional market and building their own workaround right inside our product. We watched a massive amount of housing inventory shift outside the traditional real estate system and into wherever people already consumed content and found community: Facebook housing groups, Instagram stories, WhatsApp.
We saw that the housing market was broken and decided to build the infrastructure that the market needed.
How is snag different?
snag is building infrastructure for the massive informal housing market that already exists; the one running on Facebook groups, Instagram DMs, and WhatsApp threads. We bring trust, speed, and legal structure to a subculture that had none of it previously. snag is rebuilding renting around the way this generation actually lives.
What market does snag target and how big is it?
Our vision is to reinvent the traditional lease.
Our core user is Gen Z renters needing a place to live in New York. Right now, if a 23-year-old needs a four-month stay in NY for an internship, or to find a roommate to afford living in Manhattan, her options are to hack something together between FB Marketplace, an Instagram DM, or Whatsapp Groups. The informal housing market they built to survive is enormous. Our team has parsed over 60,000 listings exchanged in NYC Facebook housing groups alone, representing billions of dollars in inventory moving through shadow markets and personal networks.
We’ve also grown almost entirely through TikTok and Instagram creators: 90 million organic views on TikTok, with about a third of our growth coming from direct word of mouth and referrals.The audience is content-native, and the product spreads naturally.
We are building the place to find trusted apartments fast. We believe the new generation of renters will snag their next place.
What’s your business model?
We take a 10% platform fee on all marketplace transactions.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
Young people are getting priced out of the cities that hold their next opportunity. snag makes housing more affordable and flexible. In a potential economic slowdown, snag will be even more necessary to survive big cities.
What was the funding process like?
The round came together in ten weeks and closed oversubscribed. We came in with real traction as snag had 3,000 listings in New York City, over 3,000 renters actively searching monthly, 30% month-over-month growth, and 90 million organic TikTok views. We weren’t asking investors to believe in a thesis, we were showing them a market that had already built itself, and asking them to help us formalize it.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
For weeks, I had 8, 10, 12 meetings back to back in a day. You are telling your story and vision over and over to new investors hearing it for the first time. Fundraising takes a lot of energy. I would get a “no” email explaining why it’s not gonna work seconds before pitching a new investor, and still have to show up with the same raw energy and excitement about building the future of housing with snag. Going through the process is the biggest challenge. I kept reminding myself that I feel privileged to do something I love and have people willing to listen. I was also very grateful that a16z speedrun team was there by our side almost every day during our raise, offering greater emotional support than even tactical. You need people in your corner when you raise capital.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Investors were drawn to our core insight: people are already apartment hunting on group chats and social feeds, the market has shifted. What excited investors was that we’re building the trust infrastructure for an informal consumer behavior that already exists.
I believe consumer distribution is everything. We established our distribution channels early and showed strong signals that we knew how to reach this audience, which gave investors confidence that we could turn that existing behavior into a real marketplace.
And, transacting rent, the American consumer’s biggest spend, on snag was also promising.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’re proving the model can scale beyond New York and will launch in our second city soon. We’re also building out our content club which is a program that lets creators earn income by helping their communities find housing.
We’re proving the model can scale beyond New York and will launch in our second city soon. We’re also building out our content club which is a program that lets creators earn income by helping their communities find housing.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Decide whether you want to grow your business or raise capital. Doing both at the same time is very hard. My cofounder Niko was running the company during the two months I was raising full-time. It is a full-time job, and most of the time it even takes longer than two months. Business success unlocks capital, and capital unlock speed. My advice would be to make your goal very clear and go after it. Clarity and determination wins.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
The longer vision is what liquid housing actually means at scale, a world where housing isn’t the thing that blocks your next chapter. If you get a new opportunity, you shouldn’t have to choose between the lease and the life you want.
What’s your favorite fall destination in and around the city?
I love walking around the streets with the leaves turning color in fall in New York City. Our city is so aesthetic. My friends Julie and Sam launched a new French tart brand called La Mechante, absolutely the most delicious savory and sweet tarts you can have. I love going for a run along the river or Central Park and ending it at Smorgasborg to get their treat. Marathon day is another magical moment in the city in fall. I feel teary every year from the energy and vibration in the air. This year I’m registered to run it. Just being outside in fall in New York, enjoying our beautiful streets and tastefully dressed people is a daily dose of joy.
