Canadian Real Estate Startup Properly Raises $35 Million to Fund Further Expansion

By Adriaan Brits | Wednesday, 21 July 2021 | Startup, Real Estate, International

Properly, a Toronto-based real estate startup company, confirmed today it secured $35 million in fresh business funding to support a nationwide expansion.

Creating ‘Frictionless’ Real Estate Transactions

Properly said that major private equity business Bain Capital led the Series B funding round. The investing arm of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurance company — Intact Ventures — also took part in the business funding round. Additionally, major real estate technology and title insurance company FCT were funding participants. Prudence Holdings, FJ Labs, Golden Ventures,1984 Ventures, Max Ventures, Alleycorp, and Interplay also provided funding for Properly.

Aside from these institutional investors, other business founders and entrepreneurs such as Mike Katchen (the CEO of Wealthsimple), Spencer Rascoff (formerly the CEO of Zillow), Eric Wu (the CEO of Opendoor), Lydia Jett (SoftBank), and Jonathan Ehrlich (formerly at Facebook), participated in the business funding round.

"We're creating a future where Canadians can buy or sell a home with dramatically less friction and surprising simplicity. We're bringing best-in-class tools and services to the market to support our customers from their initial home search through to closing a home sale. As a result, we've experienced exponential growth, but we're just at the start of our journey. We're excited to use this financing to bring better services to Canadians across the country,” commented Anshul Ruparell, co-founder and CEO of Properly.

The main goal of the real estate startup company is to make transactions between buyers and sellers “frictionless.” In addition to the funding received from Intact and FCT, Properly will also have a strategic business partnership with these two companies to improve an overall home-buying experience in Canada.

FCT’s CEO Michael LeBlanc says that Properly business investment is consistent with his company’s plans to provide funding and support to innovative real estate startup companies.

Products, tools, and services developed by the Toronto-based real estate startup company include “Sales Assurance,” which allows homeowners to first buy a home, move in, and then sell on the market. “Instant Estimate” is a tool designed to calculate a home’s value.

Furthermore, “Discovery Portal” allows home buyers to browse through the listings with a user base in this category growing by 90% on a monthly basis. Finally, a “Properly Polish” service offers home sellers a $20,000 interest-free loan to refurbish their home before selling it on the market.

These products, tools, and services represent one of the key factors why Justin Smith-Lorenzetti, Investment Director at Intact Ventures, decided to participate in the Series B funding round for Properly. He especially highlighted business growth and the innovative tools introduced by the real estate startup company.

"We have invested in several promising PropTech companies in the U.S. and our investment in Properly is our first of this kind in Canada. The vision that Anshul and his team have to transform the home buying and selling experience and the unquestionable need for innovation in the Canadian real estate industry is what compelled us to invest in Properly,“ noted Merritt Hummer, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures.

Summary

Canadian real estate startup Properly secured $35 million in fresh funding to further expand its offerings and services across Canada.

About the Author

Adriaan Brits

As an analyst of global affairs, Adriaan has an MSC from Oxford, with diverse interests in the digital economy, entertainment, and business. He is a specialist trainer in Advanced Analytics & Media.