Property Managers Overseeing Tens of Millions in Assets Are Using This Atlanta Startup—And Its Founder Is Only 17
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Michael Wang’s schedule isn’t exactly like most other 17 year olds.
Yes, he has school classes, homework, and baseball practice (he’s ranked in the State of Georgia). But he’s also juggling life as a dual-enrollment student at Georgia Tech and an early-stage founder building PropTech (property technology) startup that has already gained impressive traction with customers.
What Property Managers Want
Wang, who is currently in his junior year at North Gwinnett High School, launched his company, Esto, to address the pain points he saw his family experiencing as property managers for different leased units in the Metro Atlanta area.
The startup’s mission: To make property management effortless through intelligent automation and workflow optimization.
“Legacy apps [for property managers] are really expensive and they don't do everything. A big pain point is talking to the tenant. A lot of times, they are asking recurring questions like when is my lease up? When is rent due? And that stuff can be automated with the context from the lease.”
Another big challenge for property managers? Dealing with rental applications. That includes checking for fraudulent forms and information that can come in the form of faked pay stubs, Social Security Numbers, and credit scores…all things that property managers have to deal with.
All of those things can be streamlined through AI, said Wang. Esto looks to streamline the process as an AI-enabled platform and full operating system for property management. The platform is designed to help with listing rentals and leases and tenant background screenings.
It is also designed to automate repetitive tasks like keeping up with tenant issues, maintenance requests, and collecting rent.
In its beta version, which launched in November 2025, Esto already has $60 million in properties under management using the platform.
The platform is free for now as they look to bring on new customers. The goal is to create a subscription model based on the number of units a property manager has on the platform.
Building Esto For The Future
Wang started building Esto’s customer base through his own contacts of property managers in the Metro Atlanta area.
As Wang scales Esto, he is looking to bring on a co-founder and connect with more property managers interested in streaming their workflows.
And he already knows how he will be scaling Esto in 2025. As a student in the dual-enrollment program at Georgia Tech, Wang is set to participate in the summer 2026 launch cohort through Create-X, the university’s accelerator program designed to help student-run businesses get funding, mentorship, and legal support.
