Toronto-based proptech startup Bidmii has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding. Canadian entrepreneur, investor, and HGTV host Scott McGillivray led the round.
The financing also saw participation from Shopify’s vice president of engineering, Tom Newton, and owner at JL’s Home Hardware Building Centre Andre Belisle. Newton, along with Andrew McGillivray, president of the McGillivray Group, will join Bidmii’s advisory board.
Launched in 2020, Bidmii offers an automated marketplace for homeowners where they can hire trusted contractors to complete their projects. Contractors can also connect with qualified homeowners through Bidmii’s platform. The company said it provides fair market pricing, payment security, and project control.
Other members of the startup’s advisory board include ResQ CEO and co-founder Kuljeev Singh, CIBC World Markets managing director Mark Landry, Twitter head of CPG, retail and dining Karen Zuccala, Sleep Country Canada CFO Craig De Pratto, among others.
“Marketplaces have already transformed so many of the industries in our day to day lives,” said Scott McGillivray, citing food delivery, transportation, and vacation rentals. “It’s easy to see the huge potential that Bidmii has to better connect and ease the pain points for both homeowners and contractors.”
Most recently, Bidmii was featured in an episode of Scott McGillivray’s Buying In – Renovate or Relovate?.
According to Bidmii, the fresh financing brings the company’s total funding to $1.5 million. CEO Jon Christensen said Bidmii intends to use the capital to scale its offerings across Ontario, develop more features for the platform, and expand its workforce. It also expanded its services to Hamilton, Kitchener and Waterloo in November.
In an announcement on LinkedIn Christensen said, “From a casual conversation 20 months ago about renovations gone wrong, to today: thousands of users in a community, working together to push this industry to get better.”
Before leading Bidmii, Christensen held multiple executive positions in other companies. He was formerly the vice president, global growth at St. Louis Franchise Limited and the vice president of store development for Freshii.