What Umovefree does

Umovefree (legal entity: Sigma Relocation Group LLC, founded 2001) is a Texas-based apartment locating platform that became the largest such service in the state prior to its March 2026 acquisition by Stake Network, Inc. The company employs the largest staff of licensed apartment locators in Texas, all full-time employees with average tenure of 5+ years, who deliver personalized, agent-assisted search across Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. It claims coverage of 95%+ of Texas apartment listings, versus 10-30% coverage on most rental websites, and reports having served 4 million+ Texas renters over its history and 5 million+ renters when combined with the Stake platform.

The core apartment locating service is free to renters and monetized through referral fees paid by apartment communities when a renter signs a lease citing Stake as the referral source. A portion of these fees is shared with renters as cash back rewards ($100-$200 per lease), supplemented with free move services (1 to 2.5 hours depending on rental rate). Following the acquisition, the platform has expanded vertically into a broader 'renter network' that includes lease signing, rent payments, an FDIC-insured Stake Checking account (banking provided by Midland States Bank and TransPecos Banks), a Visa debit card, a premium 'Stake Saver' subscription tier, and credit building via rent-payment reporting (advertised 58+ point average credit-score improvement). The technology layer is positioned by Stake as an 'AI-powered renter network' primarily leveraging recommendation/matching for personalized apartment discovery, and the platform is SOC2 Type 2 compliant. Revenue is supplemented by subscription fees and interchange/operations from the banking program.

The customer base is horizontal and consumer-facing, with thousands of individual renters annually and apartment communities as the secondary revenue-contributing segment. Stake (the parent) reported 4x revenue growth in 2025 prior to the acquisition and closed a concurrent $8 million debt and equity round led by LAGO, with participation from RET Ventures, Bluefield Capital, Hamilton Ventures, Gaingels, Hub Angels, and Second Century Ventures (the NAR's VC arm), with stated intent to use proceeds for additional acquisitions and national scaling beyond Texas.

Name

Umovefree

Legal name

Sigma Relocation Group LLC

Website

https://umovefree.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Umovefree is the largest apartment locating platform in Texas, operating under the Stake brand following a March 2026 acquisition. It serves Texas renters through licensed agents and digital tools, monetizing via referral fees paid by apartment communities and bundling cash back rewards, banking, credit-building, and rent-payment services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Apartment Locating Services

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & First-Time Buyer Brokerage (BPAJAAAD)

Keywords

• Apartment locating services
• Rental search platform
• Cash back rewards
• Renter financial services
• Apartment referral service

Headquarters

HQ city

Irving

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Referral Fees from Apartment Communities: Stake receives referral fees from apartment communities when renters sign leases and list Stake as their referral source. A portion of these fees is shared with renters as cash back rewards. This is the core revenue model that enables the free service for renters.
2. Banking Services: Stake offers checking accounts and banking services, generating revenue through standard banking mechanisms. Banking services are provided by Midland States Bank and Transpecos Bank.
3. Premium Services and Upgrades: Members can upgrade to Stake Saver which includes unlimited cash back, credit building, FDIC insured banking, and cash back for paying rent.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Umovefree (now operating under the Stake brand) is a Texas-based apartment locating service that helps individual renters find apartments across Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio metros. Licensed apartment locators provide personalized assistance, and renters receive cash back rewards (up to $200) or free moving services when they sign leases through the platform. The service is free to renters and monetized via referral fees paid by partner apartment communities.

Product overview

Umovefree (operating under the Stake brand) is a vertically integrated renter network combining apartment locating services with financial wellness products. The core offering includes the UMoveFree apartment locating platform (the largest in Texas), which connects renters with apartments across Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio markets through licensed locators. This core service is bundled with the Stake financial platform, which includes a Stake Account for receiving Cash Back rewards, Stake Checking (FDIC-insured banking), Stake Saver (premium tier), and a Visa Debit Card. The ecosystem also includes complementary services such as Credit Builder (reporting rent payments to credit bureaus), Free Move assistance, and a Cash Back Rebate Program. The combined platform spans apartment search through lease signing, rent payments, and financial wellness, serving over 400,000 renters nationwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Stake: Cash Back Network for Renters - financial technology platform offering cash back on rent, credit building, and banking services for renters

Quantifiable outcome

• 4x revenue growth in 2025 for Stake prior to UMoveFree acquisition
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Apartment Communities (Texas)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNearly every apartment community in Texas has listing agreements with Stake. Communities pay referral fees when renters sign leases through Stake.
• Moving Service PartnerssupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIndependent moving companies that perform free moves for eligible renters. UMoveFree arranges but does not directly provide moving services.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• Bungalow: Bungalow operates a co-living and rental home platform with a focus on streamlining the renter experience from search through move-in. Comparable on the renter-lifecycle focus and bundled services model, though Bungalow focuses more on managed home rentals than pure apartment locating.

Direct peers

• Hotpads: Hotpads (owned by Zillow Group) is a map-based apartment and rental home search platform. Competes with UMoveFree on rental discovery and listing aggregation, particularly for multi-family and apartment inventory in dense metros.
• PadMapper: PadMapper aggregates rental listings on a map-based interface and serves a similar renter search use case. While less focused on agent-led service, it competes for the same apartment-finding traffic and landlord referral relationships.
• Dwellsy: Dwellsy is a no-fee rental marketplace that lists every available property in a market and targets the same renter demographic as UMoveFree. Directly comparable on its free-to-renter, commission-based-from-landlord monetization model.
• Apartment List: Apartment List is the closest direct competitor: a digital rental marketplace that combines online search with personalized locator/concierge assistance and offers cash-back incentives to renters. Highly comparable in business model (referral-fee monetization, agent-assisted search, rebate to renters) and renter target audience.
• Rentable: Rentable is a no-fee apartment search platform that connects renters with landlords and offers cash-back rewards on signed leases. Directly comparable referral-fee-plus-cash-back model targeting the same SMB renter demographic across multiple U.S. metros.

Broad incumbents

• Zillow Rentals: Zillow's rentals vertical is the largest digital rental marketplace in the U.S. with massive listing coverage, brand recognition, and traffic. Overlaps with UMoveFree on renter search and listing aggregation, but Zillow serves as a broad incumbent with much wider geographic coverage and a real estate transaction ecosystem.
• Realtor.com Rentals: Realtor.com's rentals vertical is a major U.S. rental listings aggregator backed by Move, Inc. and News Corp. Competes on listing coverage and renter traffic, but with a broader real estate transaction ecosystem rather than a referral/locator focus.
• Apartments.com (CoStar): Apartments.com, owned by CoStar Group, is a dominant apartment listing platform with extensive property manager relationships and high traffic. Overlaps with UMoveFree on listing aggregation and renter search, but operates as a broad incumbent with national scale and a paid-listing model rather than referral-fee economics.
• Zillow Rental Manager: Zillow Rental Manager is the property-owner-facing side of Zillow's rental platform and a key competitor for landlord/PM marketing budgets that fund referral fee economics. Relevant as the incumbent counterpart to UMoveFree's property-partner relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/umovefree
• Facebookfacebook.com/umovefree
• Instagraminstagram.com/umovefree

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Umovefree