Toronto-based proptech startup RealSage has closed $2.1 million CAD ($1.6 million USD) in pre-seed funding to fuel its North American expansion and product development plans.
Amid the downturn, RealSage CEO Arunabh Dastidar believes it’s a “critical time” for real estate asset managers to ensure they make the most of data.
The company, which recently rebranded to RealSage from SoulRooms, has set its sights on helping multi-family residential real estate owners and operators make stronger decisions by applying artificial intelligence (AI) to their rental data.
RealSage’s software platform helps multi-family rental housing professionals manage and analyze their operations. Leveraging AI and predictive analytics, RealSage claims it can help clients improve tenant selection and unit pricing, and reduce vacancies, among other uses.
As RealSage co-founder and CEO Arunabh Dastidar put it in an interview with BetaKit, the past few years have been “black swan after black swan” between the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and market downturn.
Amid current economic conditions, Dastidar thinks the timing is right for a solution like RealSage, arguing that it is particularly important for real estate asset managers to “understand what’s going on in their industry [and] in their market at a more granular level.”
Dastidar believes it’s a “critical time” for real estate asset managers to ensure they make the most of data. Led by a team with past experience in the real estate industry and asset management, RealSage aims to help multi-family housing managers do just that.
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RealSage’s pre-seed round, which closed in February and was raised via a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE), marks the firm’s first institutional capital. The round was led by Houston-based Golden Section and Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play Ventures, which has expanded to Canada in recent years.
The financing also saw participation from undisclosed angels from Shopify and Airbnb, real estate family offices from Toronto and California, and REACH, Second Century Ventures’ accelerator program, in which RealSage participated. Second Century Ventures, which has also backed Toronto-based mortgage startup Perch, is the strategic investment arm of the United States’ National Association of Realtors.
With this pre-seed capital, RealSage has now raised a total of about $3.5 million CAD ($2.6 million USD) to date. This amount includes a $1 million USD angel and friends and family round from 2021, which the company secured to build its product.
Founded in 2019 by Dastidar, Gaurav Madani, and Zain Nathoo, RealSagecurrently offers targeted, multi-family real estate solutions for asset management, leasing, revenue management, and marketing and engagement.
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Since launching its platform last year, RealSage has amassed a list of clients that includes Drewlo Holdings, Oxford Properties, and Dastidar’s former employer, Zahra Properties. According to RealSage, customers are currently using the company’s tech to help manage over 100 buildings across North America.
The early-stage startup has big ambitions within the real estate data analysis space. “We want to be the market leaders for this category,” said Dastidar, who noted that in the meantime, RealSage’s goal is to support over $50 billion worth of assets in 2023.
For now, RealSage’s focus is purely on multi-family housing. But Dastidar said that once the company’s models are trained enough within this segment, RealSage sees room to expand its offering into other areas, including commercial real estate.
Feature image courtesy RealSage.