Weevva is an innovative, all-in-one rental platform simplifying the rental process for private landlords and tenants. With tools for tenant verification, lease management, and streamlined communication, Weevva transforms renting into a secure, efficient, and hassle-free experience.
Fellow Canadian and with over two decades in the automotive industry, now Newfoundland and Labradorian-based Matt Creese is on a mission to redefine the property-technology industry, starting with helping the user experience for both landlords and tentants.
With his background in business development, operations, strategic research and having lived abroad in South Africa, the UK and the Middle East, Matt is coming back to Canada to better provide individuals including newcomers and international students with financial stability, starting with finding a comfortable home with ease.
Weevva was recently selected to join Fintech Cadence’s 2025 Innovate Financial Health (IFH) Lab, a national program dedicated to supporting founders on a mission to improve the financial health of Canadians and Canadian businesses. Today, we sit down with Matt Creese to learn what inspired him to start Weevva .
Tell us about your startup and what inspired you to start it.
Weevva is building Canada’s confidence layer for renting. We are not another marketplace. We are the infrastructure that supports better rental outcomes, wherever people are already renting. As an independent landlord and a former renter, I saw how unsupported both sides of the rental relationship are. I started Weevva because renting isn’t broken. It’s just unsupported.
Can you walk us through your “matchmaking” process between landlords and tenants, and how that improves fit?
We look at more than just budget or move-in dates. We help landlords define what kind of tenant works best for their space. And we help tenants build verified profiles that show their strengths, preferences, and stability. It is not just matching data. It is about making the rental experience smoother for everyone involved.
What drew you to entrepreneurship and what energizes you to pursue Weevva even when things aren't going as planned?
I spent 20 years helping other companies grow and turn around. But the pull to build something of my own kept getting louder. I didn’t want to simply improve someone else’s system. I wanted to fix a broken one. Knowing the problem is real. Every week I hear from landlords and tenants who are struggling. Not because they are irresponsible, but because they are left to figure everything out on their own. If we can reduce even a fraction of that burden, we are doing something that matters.
How do you interpret your success? What about your failures?
Success is when someone tells us Weevva helped them find a home, or gave them the confidence to manage their rental relationship better. Failure is just another form of feedback. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but it always helps point you in a clearer direction.
What inspires you when it comes to finding a solution to help the financial health of Canadians? What specific financial risks and frictions does Weevva aim to remove from the rental journey?
Housing is the foundation of financial health. When people can find and sustain stable rentals, it becomes easier to stay in school, keep a job, or raise a family. Stable housing is a lever for everything else.
For tenants, we reduce the risk of being overlooked or rejected due to a lack of credit or rental history. For landlords, we reduce the stress of not knowing who to trust. For both, we bring structure, clarity, and guidance that helps avoid costly mistakes, misunderstandings, or disputes.
And to follow, what unique financial health challenges or opportunities do you see happening in the Canadian market?
Many Canadians are invisible to traditional credit systems. That creates real barriers to renting, borrowing, and building a stable life. There’s a big opportunity to rethink how we assess trust and reliability in ways that are fair, flexible, and data-informed.
There is a huge opportunity in embedding financial tools into real-life systems like housing and education. The biggest challenge is building trust. These tools have to feel safe, human, and genuinely helpful.
What's the best career advice you've ever received?
Build something useful. It’s easy to get distracted by hype or chasing funding. But if you keep asking “Is this actually helping someone?” you stay focused on what counts.
For all the aspiring entrepreneurs out there, what advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting their own startup? What book(s), podcast(s) or movie(s) do you highly recommend?
Make sure the problem you are solving matters to you. It has to matter enough to carry you through the tough times. Don’t build for users. Build for people.
As per the recommendations:
→ Balado: Diary of a CEO — Stephen Bartlett talks to a variety of really interesting people with a variety of viewpoints and takes on business. Or Smartless if I just want to have a bit of fun.
→ Book: The Mom Test — essential reading for anyone building something new.
→ Movie: The Wolf of Wall Street – It’s a great example of commerce and greed over compassion, and a lesson in caution for entrepreneurs!
What are you most proud of?
That we didn’t wait for someone else to solve the problem. We saw something broken and decided to fix it — carefully, responsibly, and with real people in mind.
Finally, what’s next for Weevva?
We’re about to launch TESS, our AI-powered rental guidance tool that gives tenants and landlords real-time legal information tailored to their province. We are also rolling out our Ready to Rent program for students and newcomers, helping them build verified rental profiles and succeed in their first tenancies.
Where to find Weevva:
Register to our upcoming IFH Lab Showcase here to listen to Matt pitch – taking place online on July 31st.
