Toronto-based proptech startup iRestify has raised $6 million CAD to take its “all-in-one” cleaning and maintenance software for property managers south of the border.
The round follows a series of pivots for iRestify, which got its start serving residential properties before shifting its focus to individual tenant spaces like dental offices and restaurants before COVID-19.
“That’s when we said we need to do something different, and we need to do it very quickly.”
“When the pandemic hit, a very large portion of the business went away because everything was closed,” iRestify co-founder and co-CEO Charlotte Gummesson told BetaKit in an interview. “That’s when we said we need to do something different, and we need to do it very quickly.”
After sensing a need for its solution among property managers in the multi-residential space, iRestify adjusted its approach. Since then, Gummesson says the company has seen some growth in Canada despite COVID-19 closures, and now, Gummesson sees a chance for iRestify to grow its presence in the United States (US).
iRestify’s latest all-equity, all-primary funding round, which closed last month, was led by Massachusetts-based Gutbrain Ventures and PBJ Capital, with participation from Joint Effects, and previous investors Export Development Canada (EDC), Birchmere Ventures, and Converge. The fresh capital brings iRestify’s total funding to about $9.5 million CAD.
iRestify was co-founded in 2016 by Gummesson and co-CEO Erifili Morfidis, who previously worked together at Teleperformance. iRestify offers a cleaning and facilities management platform that helps property managers remotely book and automate their cleaning and maintenance operations. The company provides the underlying tech and maintenance and cleaning teams capable of serving enterprise-level, multi-residential, and commercial properties to a list of clients that include Minto and Canadian Urban.
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iRestify classifies its latest financing as a seed round, making it the company’s third seed funding round in the last four years.
The startup raised its first seed round ($1 million) in October 2018, back when it focused on serving businesses. iRestify announced its second seed round in August 2020, when the company nabbed $2.4 million to support its shift into catering to property managers in the residential space after demand from business customers cratered amid pandemic shutdowns.
Gummesson said iRestify’s latest seed funding was raised at different terms and a “significantly higher” valuation than the company’s 2020 round. The CEO added that iRestify hopes to raise a larger Series A round in the future.
According to iRestify, the company has seen demand for its services in Canada increase during COVID-19.
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“We put our full focus on the multi-residential part of the property management space,” said Gummesson. “We just went full force with that and we were actually able to grow through the pandemic.”
Going forward, iRestify plans to focus on serving both the multi-residential and commercial sides of property management, which it returned to serving last year as COVID-19 closures began to subside.
Within the property maintenance and cleaning software space, Gummesson described iRestify’s all-in-one approach as the startup’s “key differentiator.”
“There is no other company that [provides] the same offering as iRestify does to property management companies,” said Gummesson. “This all-in-one solution, the service combined with the technology, nobody else offers that in the market.”
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Today, iRestify provides North American property management companies with cleaning and maintenance services for over 40 million square feet across 240 buildings.
After a soft launch in New York, Gummesson said this funding will help iRestify expand its presence across the US, both in New York as well as other markets like Boston, Chicago, and Minnesota. iRestify plans to expand through both new and existing customers who already manage US properties.
To accomplish this, iRestify intends to grow its 35-person team by hiring across all departments.
Gummesson expects iRestify’s American investors—which now include Gutbrain and PBJ as well as Birchmere and Converge—to aid the firm’s US expansion efforts. As part of the round, Gutbrain founder and Managing Director Bob Davoli and PBJ Managing Partner Bruce Clarke are joining iRestify’s board of directors.
With files from Charles Mandel.
Feature image of Erifili Morfidis and Charlotte Gummesson, courtesy iRestify.