Propertymate, an Austin-based property management startup working to bring AI data to buyers and builders, just secured $1 million in a funding seed round.
Founded in 2018 by Dan Hnatkovskyy and Sofia Vyshnevska, the proptech startup initially focused on helping match agents with new construction. Since the pandemic, they have expanded their product to offer builders insight into which communities across the country are likely to see a wave of interest in the coming future.
The seed round of $1 million, which is led by venture capital firm Pragmatech, came less than a year later as more and more builders started to turn toward artificial intelligence for their building and investment decisions.
“When the pandemic happened, builders were very uncertain about consumer demand and they started to guard their expenses on Zillow and realtor.com and digital marketing in general,” Hnatkovskyy told Inman. “They were looking for additional sources on how they can acquire leads and spend less.”
Propertymate’s business model is based on a referral fee that builders pay them when a buyer closes a transaction. The initial funding round will, Hnatkovskyy said, go toward expanding their presence in two additional Texas cities, Dallas and Houston, and growing their team.
The decision to start in Texas has been a strategic choice given the high number of people currently moving to the state for economic reasons and the record-low inventory rates that push many into building a new home.
Propertymate
“Even the normally conservative real estate market in the United States is changing due to the development of convenient digital services such as Propertymate,” Propertymate’s Chief Operating Officer Sofia Vyshnevska said in a statement. “I am convinced that Pragmatech’s investment and our expertise will help this platform quickly scale its business and become a new industry standard.
According to Hnatkovskyy, their customer base was multiplied by 65 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Agents and buyers also use the platform to find new construction that does not appear on the local multiple listings service and offer to clients.
“The big problem with new construction is that many builders are not listing their new homes on MLS and these new homes are rarely available [to buyers],” Hnatkovskyy said. “What we do is help home builders sell new homes faster by getting all of the information from them and marketing it to consumers who want to buy new constructions and […] have the best experience during their transaction.”
