Lugui

AI agents on WhatsApp for automated tenant screening and rental bureaucracy in Brazil.

Website: https://lugui.co/en/

Cover Block

Name Lugui
Tagline AI agents on WhatsApp for automated tenant screening and rental bureaucracy in Brazil.
Headquarters São Paulo, Brazil
Founded 2024
Stage Angel
Business Model B2B
Industry Proptech
Technology AI / Machine Learning
Geography Latin America
Growth Profile Venture Scale
Founding Team Solo Founder
Funding Label Pre-seed
Total Disclosed ~$300,000 (R$1.5 million) [TI Inside, October 2025]

Links

The Short Version

Lugui is a São Paulo-based proptech startup using conversational AI agents on WhatsApp to automate the notoriously bureaucratic tenant screening process for Brazilian real estate brokers, a wedge into a local rental market valued at roughly R$500 billion [TI Inside, October 2025]. The company, founded in 2024 by Thomaz Guz, a veteran of the local proptech scene, has raised R$1.5 million (estimated $300,000 USD) in an angel round to build out its platform [TI Inside, October 2025]. Its core product allows a broker to send a prospective tenant's CPF or CNPJ via a WhatsApp text or voice message and receive, within seconds, a synthesized report on credit, legal history, and outstanding debts by connecting to sources like Serasa and federal revenue systems [Lugui, retrieved 2024].

The differentiation lies in its operational model, meeting brokers on the communication channel they already use daily. Guz's background includes roles at Nomah and the proptech unicorn Loft [TI Inside, October 2025]. The business model is B2B, targeting agencies and brokers with a subscription fee for access to its AI agents, and the company reports a goal of surpassing 300 daily active users and R$1 million in annualized revenue by the end of 2025 [TI Inside, October 2025]. Over the next 12-18 months, execution on its partnership with Cardinali to develop a fully autonomous rental operating model will be a critical test of its ambition to move beyond screening into the broader rental workflow.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core product description and founder background are confirmed; funding, traction, and market size rely on a single primary press report.

The Company in Brief

Lugui is a São Paulo-based proptech startup founded in 2024 by Thomaz Guz, a former executive at the Brazilian real estate platforms Nomah and Loft [TI Inside, October 2025]. The company was launched after Guz took a sabbatical to focus on generative AI applications, aiming to address operational bottlenecks in Brazil's rental sector [TI Inside, October 2025]. Its primary operational model involves deploying AI agents on WhatsApp to automate tenant screening and document processing for real estate brokers and agencies.

Key milestones are concentrated in 2025, beginning with the launch of its initial AI agent for credit analysis. In October 2025, the company announced it had raised R$1.5 million (approximately $300,000) in an angel round from individual investors including Ernani Assis of Remax and Admar Cruz, formerly of Casa Mineira and QuintoAndar [TI Inside, October 2025]. The same month, Lugui reported having more than 50 daily active users of its agents and announced a partnership with Cardinali to develop what it describes as the first fully autonomous rental operating model powered by AI agents [TI Inside, October 2025].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founding details and funding amount are reported by a single trade publication; founder's prior roles are corroborated by LinkedIn.

What They Have Built

The product is a wedge into a notoriously bureaucratic market, delivered through a channel that is already the default. Lugui’s core offering is an AI agent that performs tenant screening entirely within WhatsApp, a platform where Brazilian real estate brokers already conduct a significant portion of their daily communication [TI Inside, October 2025]. A broker sends a prospective tenant’s CPF (individual taxpayer ID) or CNPJ (company ID) via text or voice message, and the agent returns a synthesized report with credit scores, legal history, and outstanding debts within seconds [Lugui, retrieved 2024]. This process, which the company claims connects to public and private data sources like Serasa, court systems, and Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service, aims to replace manual, multi-hour checks with an automated, conversational interface [TI Inside, October 2025].

The underlying technology is described as a proprietary integration layer that orchestrates large language models from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI to process raw data into structured reports [TI Inside, October 2025]. The company’s public roadmap, as of late 2025, includes two additional agents in development:

  • Document collection. An automated workflow to request and organize necessary rental documents from tenants via the same WhatsApp thread.
  • Certificate issuance. A system to generate required certificates, aiming to reduce a process that currently takes hours to seconds [TI Inside, October 2025].

A more ambitious, long-term vision involves a partnership with real estate firm Cardinali to build what Lugui calls the first fully autonomous rental operating model powered by AI agents [TI Inside, October 2025]. This suggests an eventual expansion from discrete screening tasks to managing entire rental workflows. The current traction metric cited is more than 50 daily active users of its AI agents, with a goal to surpass 300 DAUs and 100+ real estate agencies by the end of 2025 [TI Inside, October 2025].

The opportunity for Lugui hinges on the sheer scale and persistent friction within Brazil's residential rental market, a sector characterized by high transaction volumes and a notoriously manual, document-heavy process. The Brazilian rental sector is valued at approximately R$500 billion (estimated $100 billion USD) annually, according to coverage citing the company's own market assessment [TI Inside, October 2025].

Metric Value
Total Brazilian Rental Market (TAM) R$500B

Regulatory forces are a double-edged sword. Brazil's General Data Protection Law (LGPD) imposes strict requirements on the processing of personal data, including CPF (tax ID) numbers and financial information. Lugui's need to connect to sensitive data sources like court systems and the Federal Revenue Service means robust data security and compliance protocols are non-negotiable cost centers and potential barriers.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market size figure is cited in company coverage but not from an independent market research report. Adjacent market and regulatory context is based on general industry knowledge.

Who Else Is Fighting for This

Lugui's position is defined by its choice to build on a ubiquitous communication platform for a market where digital adoption is often fragmented, a strategy that places it adjacent to, rather than directly against, larger proptech incumbents.

Company Positioning Stage / Funding Notable Differentiator
Lugui AI agents on WhatsApp for tenant screening & rental bureaucracy in Brazil. Angel (~$300k) WhatsApp-native, conversational interface for brokers; developing autonomous rental model.
QuintoAndar Full-stack digital rental and sale platform in Brazil. Late-stage unicorn End-to-end platform controlling tenant sourcing, contracting, and payments; massive scale.
Loft Technology-driven real estate brokerage and transaction platform in Brazil. Late-stage unicorn Focus on residential sales and high-touch brokerage; significant brand and capital resources.

Lugui operates within a competitive map that can be segmented into three distinct tiers. The first tier consists of full-stack digital platforms like QuintoAndar and Loft. The second tier includes specialized point solutions like CrediHome. The third tier comprises adjacent substitutes: the manual processes still dominant in thousands of independent agencies, and generic credit bureaus like Serasa.

Lugui's current defensible edge is its distribution model. By embedding its service directly into WhatsApp, it meets brokers where they already conduct business, eliminating a significant adoption friction. This channel advantage is supported by a proprietary integration layer that connects to various data sources, as reported [TI Inside, October 2025]. The company's exposure is twofold: vulnerability to competition from the platforms above and a narrow focus on the screening and document collection phase.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor identification and basic positioning are public, but detailed funding and differentiation for named competitors beyond Lugui are not fully corroborated by independent sources.

Opportunity

Lugui's opportunity rests on capturing a material share of the operational spend within Brazil's R$500 billion rental market by automating its most tedious and time-consuming workflows [TI Inside, October 2025].

The headline opportunity is to become the default operational layer for Brazilian residential rentals, a position defined by owning the critical path of tenant verification and document flow. The company's wedge is not merely a point solution for screening but a path to automating the entire rental lifecycle from inquiry to contract signing, all within the ubiquitous WhatsApp interface.

Growth from the current reported base of over 50 daily active users could follow several concrete paths:

  • Agency Platform. Lugui expands from screening to a full-service platform for independent brokers, bundling payments, contract generation, and maintenance requests.
  • Enterprise Channel. The company signs exclusive or preferred partnerships with large real estate franchisors to embed its agents across thousands of affiliated offices [TI Inside, October 2025].
  • Data & API Business. Lugui's proprietary integration layer and normalized data outputs become a sellable API for proptechs, fintechs, and property management software seeking tenant analytics.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core market size (R$500 billion) and product roadmap are reported by a single trade publication. The partnership with Cardinali is cited but details are limited. Founder background is corroborated by LinkedIn.

Sources

  1. [Lugui, retrieved 2024] Lugui, https://lugui.co/en/
  2. [LinkedIn, retrieved 2024] Thomaz Guz - Lugui AI | LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomazguz/
  3. [TI Inside, October 2025] Lugui aposta em agentes de IA no WhatsApp e mira R$ 1 milhão em faturamento, https://tiinside.com.br/13/10/2025/lugui-aposta-em-agentes-de-ia-no-whatsapp-e-mira-r-1-milhao-em-faturamento/
  4. [LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] Thomaz Guz - Lugui AI | LinkedIn, https://br.linkedin.com/in/thomazguz
  5. [Canal Executivo, October 2025] Lugui aposta em agentes de IA no WhatsApp e mira R$ 1 mi em receita, https://canalexecutivoblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/lugui-aposta-em-agentes-de-ia-no-whatsapp-e-mira-r-1-mi-em-receita/

Articles about Lugui

View on Startuply.vc