Former football star Shimon Gershon has entered fintech with a new company, Direct Guarantees, which he says received an investment of 12 million shekels. The company has launched a digital platform that lets apartment renters issue a rental guarantee without a cash deposit, in an online process that is supposed to take five minutes.
According to the company, the service is designed as an alternative to bank guarantees and cash deposits. It aims to spare renters from using up their credit lines, while giving landlords security of up to three months’ rent. The guarantee is issued in exchange for a monthly fee that works out to 6.5% of the guarantee amount per year.
Direct Guarantees said it already works with several real estate companies, including Mivne Real Estate, Rent It and City Boy, mainly on long-term rental projects. The company also said it is advancing a partnership with Phoenix Smart to offer move-related insurance through the platform, including contents and third-party liability coverage, as well as a moving loan.
Gershon, a former Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem player and ex-captain of Israel’s national team, has also built a music career, released an album with his band HaMeshulash alongside his brother and wife, model and actress Mili Levy, written a children’s book series, and later moved into business. He said, “Israel today needs real financial solutions,” adding that the rental market includes tens of thousands of transactions a year, but guarantees and collateral still involve complicated processes that force renters to give up a lot of money and landlords to make compromises.
