Lessen
- 🦄Became a unicornNov 2021
- 📈Peak valuation$1 Billion ’21
- 💔Became a Unitard2024
- 💸Last valuation~$70M
The rise & fall
10 moments · 2019–2026The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
💬 entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
Lessen was founded in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2019 by Jay McKee, a veteran of the single-family rental business. It arranges renovation, turnover and maintenance work for rental-home and commercial landlords through a network of contractors. A $170M Series B led by Fifth Wall in November 2021 valued it at more than $1B.
In January 2023 it bought SMS Assist in a $950M cash-and-stock deal funded with about $500M of new debt and equity. SEC filings show BlackRock funds then marked their Lessen preferred shares steadily lower.
By October 2025 those stakes were valued about 93% below their October 2023 marks, and from December 2025 at a nominal $0.00001 a share. No restructuring has been announced, and McKee still leads the company.
Mutual-fund markdowns
5 funds · SEC NPORT-PHow U.S. mutual funds fair-value this still-private company in their quarterly SEC filings.
| Fund | Class | $/sh | From peak | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust | Preferred | $0.00 | -100% | Jun 2026 |
| BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust | Preferred | $0.00 | -100% | Jun 2026 |
| BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc. | Preferred | $3.22 | -75% | Apr 2025 |
| BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc. | Series B Pref | $6.03 | -79% | Oct 2023 |
| BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust | $0.00 | -100% | Jun 2026 | |
| BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust | $0.00 | -100% | Jun 2026 | |
| BlackRock Capital Allocation Trust | Series B Pref | $12.95 | -55% | Mar 2023 |
| BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust | Series B Pref | $12.95 | -55% | Mar 2023 |
| BlackRock Capital Allocation Term Trust | Series B Pref | $6.08 | -35% | Dec 2023 |
| BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust | Series B Pref | $6.08 | -35% | Dec 2023 |
| BlackRock Capital Allocation Trust | Preferred | $12.95 | — | Mar 2023 |
| BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Trust | Preferred | $12.95 | — | Mar 2023 |
| BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc. | $2.41 | — | Apr 2025 |
Source: SEC EDGAR Form NPORT-P (Level-3 fair-value marks). Per-share marks reflect the fund’s own valuation of a specific share class and aren’t a company-wide valuation. Last refreshed Oct 2026.
Source: Bloomberg via WealthManagement.com (Nov 30, 2021): $170M Series B led by Fifth Wall with Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst and Navitas Capital at a valuation of more than $1B; the peak is keyed to $1B. Commercial Observer and Lessen release (Jan 12, 2023): SMS Assist bought in a $950M cash-and-stock deal financed with about $500M of new debt and equity from Monroe Capital, Värde Partners and Koch Real Estate Investments; the combined company's enterprise value of over $2B is not an equity valuation. SEC NPORT-P, BlackRock Global Allocation Fund: Series B preferred (841,086 sh) 6.03 (Oct 31, 2023) to 0.37 (Oct 31, 2025); Series C convertible preferred, relabelled Series B in 2025 (259,727 sh), 7.59 (Oct 31, 2023) to 0.50 (Oct 31, 2025), the 93% drop the row is keyed to; both classes at $0.00001 from Jan 31, 2026 (BlackRock Strategic Global Bond Fund from Dec 31, 2025); Lessen term debt marked 0.93 of par (Oct 2025) and 0.74-0.78 (Dec 2025 to Jul 2026). Single manager (BlackRock); the event behind the nominal marks is not disclosed. Lessen (Aug 12, 2026): McKee quoted as CEO.
Founder
Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-10-22. See our methodology.
Disclosed investors (11)
Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.
* Lead in a funding round · Crunchbase ↗ · 2026-10-22 · Methodology · Leaderboard
