Toronto real estate tech startup Perch has raised $1 million CAD in seed funding to scale the development of its property financing solutions. The main investor in this round was Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Launched in 2018, Perch’s mission is to “help Canadians build wealth and make more informed decisions through its analytics platform.” Some of its available tools include a mortgage calculator; a qualifier, where users can evaluate if they can afford their target property; a mortgage penalty calculator; and a First-Time Home buyer Incentive benefit calculator.
Perch founder Alex Leduc said the startup is currently focusing on scaling its operations and growing its user base. Perch is also doubling down on real estate agent and brokerage partnerships by building a dedicated agent portal. This strategy will in turn generate more leads, effectively close deals, and support the existing client base for potential repeat business, the company claims.
To further support its development, Perch joined REACH Canada, an accelerator program created by Second Century Ventures and backed by the NAR.
RELATED: Report shows overview of Canadian proptech sector as real estate undergoes digital transformation
The REACH program aims to help startups across the real estate, financial services, banking, home services, and insurance industries by providing education, mentorship, and market exposure to its worldwide network of executives and 1.4 million members.
According to REACH, the companies accepted to its 2022 program have raised over $51 million USD in capital and represent a market capitalization of more than $140 million. This year, the startups joining the program are broadly categorized into the following verticals: financial efficiency and transparency, homeownership accessibility, broker and agent tools, and environmental sustainability.
Perch said that the company is looking forward to leveraging the opportunities within the REACH program to “grow its team and continue investing in its analytics platform to build additional tools to help home buyers and home owners.”
