Technology has invaded all levels and aspects of the present-day business environment. And the property management platform is no exception. In fact, it is the modern way to run a real-estate business. Notably, the best property management platform makes it simpler and easier to manage a real estate portfolio, from accounting and budgeting to maintenance management.
The global Property Management Software (PMS) market size was valued at $1.58 billion in 2019 and expects to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2020 to 2027, says a report. Having said that, the last few months have seen a rise in VC firms investing in the property investment and management platform.
The latest firm to get funded is the London-based Lofti.
Raised £1 million
Lofti, a cloud-based property management platform, has secured $1.5 million (approx £1 million) funding in Seed Round from Taiwanese family office fund WoodJC.
As a part of the funding round, the proptech company has hired:
- Revolut’s former Lead Product Yang Li as Product and Design Lead
- Co-Founder and ex CTO of Plum Alex Michael as Interim CTO
- Former FX Pro-Tech Lead Angelos Pillos as Solutions Architect Lead
- Senior Engineer Demetris Hoplaros as Software Engineering Lead
- Vasileios Zavitsanos has also joined as COO (previously, he led the Property Development and Management arm of a family office).
Commenting on the fundraising, Andreas Gkerazis, CEO and Founder of Lofti, said: “Since coming to the UK I have been a tenant, homeowner, landlord, and property developer. This has given me insights into problems within the industry that cause a lot of stress and waste a lot of time and money for all parties. My view is that we need to focus on fundamental needs by creating a community approach where everyone is able to work together to raise standards. This means improving the relationship and communications between homeowners and contractors, and tenants and landlords. By working together we can cut costs, improve satisfaction and give everyone a better deal.”
Community-driven platform
Founded by Andreas Gkerazis in 2020, Lofti aims to create a community-driven platform for landlords, homeowners, and tenants to collaborate on improving and maintaining their properties.
Talking about changing the dynamics of the real estate market, Andreas Gkerazis, CEO and Founder of Lofti, to UKTN, says, “The residential property management and maintenance markets don’t work well for individuals. Renters, landlords, homeowners, property developers, and contractors all have to deal with problems and pain points that make relatively straightforward processes, such as making repairs to homes, a time-consuming and frustrating process. We aim to change this dynamic by bringing all of these parties together into a community and enable them to communicate and contract transparently and seamlessly. In practice, this means creating solutions such as the UK’s first Uber-style booking system for vetted contractors, an easy document management platform so everyone can see important material such as tenancy contracts, and using predictive analytics to identify potential problems in homes before they occur.”
How will the funding be used?
The funding will be used towards expanding its services across the UK, further grow its team and develop its community hub.
Gkerazis, says, “We are going to grow our team substantially and expand our range of services and marketing activity across the UK.
According to Gkerazis, the company will focus on building out customer base and vetted contractor network in London and other key UK cities. He adds, “In parallel, we plan to expand our other solutions before looking at opportunities in Europe from 2022 onwards.”
Lofti’s suite solution
The company provides cloud-based document management and communication platform to improve transparency and interactions between landlords and tenants.
All contracts, conversations, and maintenance are logged and viewable for future references as per the company.
Further, Lofti offers an on-demand fixed price booking system for vetted contractors, where homeowners and tenants can post details of the work they needed to be completed along with imagery.
Through this platform, local contractors, including plumbers and electricians, can then accept the job. Notably, users can track the arrival time of their contractor, communicate, agree and pay fees, and sign off work via the Lofti app.
Lofti’s solution also provides data analytics to predict potential maintenance issues, which enables landlords, homeowners, and home builders to be informed about and rectify issues before they develop.
Lofti’s competition
“We don’t currently have any direct competitors on the end-to-end cloud-based fully mobile solution. No other businesses offer Lofti’s range of services and solutions or cater to such an extent to both landlords and tenants and homeowners. Traditional property management companies and solutions used are far behind and cumbersome when it comes to using technology to meet the demand and user experience both landlords and tenants now require,” says Gkerazis to UKTN.
Hiring
Right now, the UK proptech company is looking out for talented individuals across various positions.
Gkerazis, says, “We’ve made several major hires from some of the UK’s top startups. Our recruitment plans are very ambitious, and we are currently hiring across various disciplines including Engineering, Machine Learning, Operations, and Marketing.”
The platform is currently available as an iOS and web app, with the Android app set to launch soon.
Yang Li, Product and Design Lead at Lofti, said: “Lofti is an exciting startup to join because of its commitment to innovation coupled with its ambition. Tackling these problems within the property industry will help a lot of people. There is also a lot of scopes to develop Lofti’s offering in several interesting ways. I’m delighted to join the team and work alongside some of the UK startup scene’s leading talent.”
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