Bonside Just Got Backed by Real Estate Giants. The Mission? Change How Landlords Pick Retail Winners
Bonside provides growth capital to brick-and-mortar businesses through a unique financing model (RRAs), allowing businesses to access non-equity capital in exchange for a percentage of their revenue
Retail real estate is undergoing a reset. As landlords look beyond big-box chains to fill space with more localized, community-first brands, a major challenge remains: how do you fairly underwrite smaller, non-credit tenants who don’t have Moody’s ratings but do have loyal followings and profitable stores?
Traditionally, mom-and-pop businesses have struggled to expand because they lack the capital, data, and perceived creditworthiness of national chains. Landlords often rely on gut instinct or cookie-cutter templates to evaluate them—an outdated system that disadvantages the very brands that make streetscapes vibrant.
Enter Bonside: Tech Meets Tenant Intelligence
Founded by Neha Govindraj in 2023, Bonside is rewriting the underwriting playbook. The NYC-based startup just announced equity investments from retail real estate powerhouses Kimco and Nuveen, along with lead investor Floating Point. The news was unveiled at ICSC Las Vegas, the industry’s flagship retail conference.
At the heart of Bonside’s offering is the Bonside Scorecard, a $1,500 underwriting tool that analyzes more than 20 metrics—ranging from store-level profitability to cost of goods sold and labor—to help landlords better assess risk and potential. It’s already in use at firms like Kimco and Nuveen and aims to create a more data-driven and equitable way to vet non-credit tenants.
From Landlord Tool to Capital Partner
But Bonside isn’t just selling software—it’s putting skin in the game. In addition to the Scorecard, the company directly invests in emerging retail brands as they scale new storefronts. Think: Black Seed Bagels, Go Get ’Em Tiger, Broad Street Oyster Co., and more.
This model borrows from a growing trend in commercial real estate where landlords and developers take equity stakes in their tenants—aligning incentives and increasing long-term success. Similar strategies have been deployed by Runyon Group and large mall players like Simon and Brookfield.
Backing the Next Generation of Retail Tenants
For Nuveen’s U.S. Head of Retail, Katie Grissom, Bonside’s approach solves a real pain point. “We saw in our portfolio that most of our mom-and-pops and non-credit tenants were paying their rent during COVID. This was their livelihood,” she told The Real Deal. In contrast, some large chains deferred rent or renegotiated aggressively.
That insight reframed how institutional investors view tenant risk. “One size doesn’t fit all,” Grissom said. And Bonside is helping real estate catch up to that reality.
What’s Next
The Bonside Scorecard is currently U.S.-only, but its adoption is climbing weekly. With fresh backing from industry leaders and a market hungry for more nuanced tenant evaluation, Bonside is positioning itself as a key infrastructure layer in the future of retail expansion.
For independent brands hoping to grow—and the landlords who want to back them—Bonside may just be the new standard.
Read more on The Real Deal
Listen to Neha Govindraj with Jenny Fielding on the Venture Everywhere podcast: Catch You on the Bonside, Listen now on Apple & Spotify and check out all our past episodes here!
