SmartRent has named Michael Shane Paladin its new president and chief executive officer, the Scottsdale-based real estate tech firm announced Monday.
Paladin will take the helm of SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT) on Feb. 24. He replaces Daryl Stemm, who has been SmartRent’s interim CEO since July 2024. Stemm will continue to serve as SmartRent’s chief financial officer, according to a company announcement.
SmartRent’s leadership change comes months after Lucas Haldeman — the company’s founder and former CEO — resigned from the real estate tech firm last July.
At the time, SmartRent suspended its financial guidance for 2024, citing increasing market headwinds and customer capital spending delays. John Dorman, board chair of SmartRent, thanked Haldeman for his dedication to the company, which he took public in 2021, but said the real estate tech firm would benefit from “a CEO with a different skill set and fresh perspective.”
Founded in 2017, SmartRent provides smart home automation software and hardware for property owners, managers and homebuilders. The company has around 450 employees, a majority of whom are based in Arizona.
Paladin, the new CEO, has more than two decades of experience in software and technology services with a career than spans blue-chip companies and early-stage ventures.
Scottsdale-based real estate tech firm SmartRent has named Michael Paladin its new CEO.
Most recently, Paladin was CEO of Siteimprove, a private equity-backed marketing software technology company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. While there, he led a successful turnaround of Siteimprove’s operations by driving profitable growth, expanding product offerings and executing strategic mergers and acquisitions, according to the announcement.
Prior to Siteimprove, Paladin held several executive roles at global enterprise software company SAP SE (NYSE: SAP).
“With [Paladin’s] leadership and our recent $10 million innovation investment, we are well positioned to remain at the forefront of innovation in our space, setting the standard and driving the future of property technology,” Dorman said.
In December, SmartRent announced plans to invest $10 million into adding new features to its smart operations software for the rental property management industry.
Paladin will receive an annual base salary of $650,000 and is eligible for yearly bonuses equal to his base salary based on performance. He’ll also receive a time-based restricted shares in the company valued at $2.7 million and a $650,000 sign-on bonus paid in two installments on Feb. 24 and six months after his start date with the company, according to a regulatory filing.
“I’m honored to join SmartRent at a time when the rental housing industry is embracing transformative technology,” Paladin said in a statement. “SmartRent’s innovative approach to IoT, data intelligence and resident-centric experiences uniquely positions the company to lead this evolution. I look forward to working with the talented team at SmartRent to deliver game-changing solutions that empower our customers and redefine what’s possible in property technology.”
Losses pile up in latest quarterly report
In the third quarter, SmartRent generated $40.5 million in revenue, a 30% decrease from the prior-year quarter, primarily driven by fewer units shipped and deployed, according to a Nov. 6 regulatory filing.
The company reported a net loss of $9.9 million in the third quarter, an increase from a $7.7 million net loss in the prior-year quarter. It had $163.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30. SmartRent has not yet reported Q4 results.
While SmartRent’s business model and market growth potential remained “very compelling,” the company was grappling with execution issues affecting its performance, Dorman said in a Nov. 6 company release.
SmartRent in November hired Natalie Cariola as chief revenue officer to oversee revitalization of its sales strategy to drive revenue growth and market share expansion, according to the regulatory filing.
In June, SmartRent signed a 38,820-square-foot office lease for its new headquarters at the North Scottsdale Corporate Center. The company is expected to take occupancy of its new office space sometime in the first two quarters of 2025, the Business Journal previously reported.
SmartRent’s stock closed at $1.52 on Monday, down 3.8%.
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