Meet the Inaugural REACH Canada Class – Innovation from Coast-to-Coast

Back in February when REACH Canada was announced, it would’ve been impossible to predict where we would be today. While the real estate and technology industries have both been significantly impacted by COVID-19; business has continued, practices have adapted, and products have evolved. Throughout the globe, REALTORS® have evolved to deliver new and improved consumer experiences, adopting new technologies at rates never before seen. REACH and Second Century Ventures’ goal to help transform technology firms of tomorrow into top real estate solutions today, has never been so timely.

With that, we are thrilled to introduce the newest members of the REACH family and the first class of REACH Canada. The 2020 class brings in firms from across the continent, and across the entire real estate ecosystem, each striving to deliver improved customer experiences to homeowners and REALTORS® alike. These companies touch on a diverse range of segments, from helping consumers gain access to housing and homeownership, to empowering agents with through elegant uses Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

By focusing on what is needed today as well as what comes next, we believe that these companies are some of the most promising in the space and best positioned to enhance the consumers’ experience with REALTORS® and drive even more value today and well into the future.

Without further ado, here is an overview of the 2020 REACH Canada Class

Across all industries, consumers continue to seek data and insights, allowing for better experiences. With this in mind, we selected each of these companies as they strive to give consumers even more insights throughout their homeownership journey and in alignment with their preferred REALTOR® partner.

Local Logic is a data and AI company which uses a combination of geospatial, user generated, and real estate data to quantify the qualities of any given location. We’re a team of urban planners, engineers, data scientists and real estate experts – giving us a holistic perspective on location, the way people perceive and value it and how technology can introduce transparency into the real estate market.

We are passionate about location and have amassed the largest unique location data set in Canada and the US, with over 20Bn data points. Our technologies allow us to capture, clean and integrate traditional and alternative location insights at scale. Our comprehensive location database includes geospatial data, school data, business listing data, demographic data, neighbourhood data and real estate market supply and demand data. The products developed by Local Logic are used to guide the decisions of online consumers when looking for real estate or travel accommodations and to build predictive models to inform decision makers investing in the urban environment.

HonestDoor is an Edmonton-based, VC-backed company that combines real estate data with data science to produce estimated values and future projections on houses and condos. In addition to the estimated HonestDoor price, Honestdoor aggregates property taxes, transaction data, permit data, and neighbourhood growth rates. By creating the most comprehensive database of commercial and residential real estate information in Canada, it empowers REALTORS® and existing/potential homeowners to make more informed decisions.

Setter empowers homeowners with software and resources to properly manage their most valuable asset. Through an annual virtual walkthrough, Setter delivers prioritized and actionable reports with clearly defined next steps providing homeowners with the piece of mind that their home is cared for. Through risk mitigation, the proprietary HomeScore and encouraging better homeownership, Setter can reward clients, save them money and help them tackle life’s todos.

By helping enhance consumers’ access property ownership, the next group of companies are innovating to build build a more equitable tomorrow. Building on the NAR Operating Values’ where we believe that every individual should have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing (Right to Housing) as well as NARs support for the broadest opportunity for homeownership (Homeownership), these companies mirror that mission.

Key is solving a generational crisis with home ownership-on-demand. For most, homeownership in the big city means taking on big debt with big down payments. Today, it takes an average of 21 years for first-time buyers in Toronto to save for a down payment, which creates a vicious circle for renters, current owners, and communities. The challenge is generational and a global issue for 24/7 cities.

Key is making the dream of homeownership a reality again for aspiring first-time home buyers by fundamentally changing the way real estate works for the better, for the many, making financial prosperity realistic and attainable. Instead of wasting 21 years saving for a big down payment, home buyers can start owning and building home equity with Key many years earlier. Plus, they can own without being locked into a mortgage.

Our patent-pending model makes home ownership attainable with an initial investment of only 2.5% (versus the typical 20%) and no need for a mortgage. Key also delivers the benefits of ownership – growing equity and security of tenancy – with the freedoms and flexibility of renting. So, aspiring homeowners can now have a place to call home and start building their equity many years earlier.

RentMoola’s SaaS platform helps landlords create recession-resistant businesses by empowering them to mitigate risk, improve their cap rates, and increase the value of their holdings. With RentMoola, landlords are able to manage processes such as marketing their properties, tenant screening to ensure they target the right renters, credit reporting, improving their cash flow, eliminating risks with rental insurance, eliminating missed payments, and generating working capital as needed.

Tenants can take control of their finances in one comprehensive and convenient platform. From accessing interest free microloans, searching for the perfect place to live, to improving their credit score by reporting their rent payments to the credit bureaus, improving their chances of approval through tenant screening checks, accessing security deposit alternatives, rental insurance, and more, tenants enjoy a more convenient way to manage their finances.

BrokerAssist is the gig economy for real estate professionals! As the new go-to collaboration and referral network, BrokerAssist is a FREE mobile marketplace connecting agents and brokers in real-time for fractional assistance on deal specific tasks (showings, open houses, inspections, etc).

Even more, BrokerAssist offers a FREE platform for on-demand referral opportunities nationwide!

Parkbench provides an all-in-one sales & marketing platform to help REALTORS® become branded as the local market expert in their desired geographic farm area. We only work with 1 realtor per neighbourhood and our system is specifically designed for realtors who want to build their brand and business through relationships and referrals instead of advertising and lead buying schemes. We provide daily business coaching & marketing training, a crm, sales scripts, follow up templates, and a client success team to hold you accountable to doing the work you need to do to become the go-to local realtor in your target market.

It’s a unique approach to help realtors get back to the basics of real estate: relationship building, prospecting, and word of mouth marketing. We’ve worked with thousands of REALTORS®. We provide a step-by-step blueprint to acquiring more clients. And we’re so confident in our system, that we’re able to offer a Money Back Guarantee! This means, if a REALTOR® uses our hyperlocal platform, and follows our sales system, and doesn’t get a positive ROI after 1 year, then we will simply return you your money back…spoiler: it’s never happened before.

Document extraction based machine learning software that makes due diligence and workflow 90% more efficient by eliminating manual repetitive tasks from the daily workflow of CRE analysts. Data extraction APIs and document extraction technology for real estate firms to fully digitise millions of documents sitting on real estate companies desktops.

We are thrilled to welcome the 2020 REACH Canada Class and look forward to bringing even more value to the entire real estate ecosystem!

About REACH Canada

REACH Canada is a growth accelerator created by Second Century Ventures, an early-stage technology fund, backed by the National Association of REALTORS®.

REACH leverages 100 worldwide bilateral partnerships in 85 countries and an unparalleled network of executives within real estate and adjacent industries. Second Century Ventures’ REACH Accelerator manages a portfolio of over 82 technology companies.

REACH Canada will helps accelerate the most promising technology companies in real estate and adjacent industries through an intensive event-based program. REACH Canada will leverage an exceptional community of real estate industry executives, investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs across North America and throughout the global REACH Accelerator network.

About the Author

Mike McAra is the Director of REACH Canada/Second Century Ventures, the most active global Proptech venture capital fund and co-host of the leading Canadian Proptech podcast, Beyond the Box. As both a VC and former Proptech founder, Mike brings a unique lens into the world of Canadian Proptech.