Breaking Property News – 10/04/24
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
Leasecake receives $10M to further serve real estate and location management operations for multi-unit operators
Leasecake, a pioneer in lease and location management solutions tailored for multi-unit operators, today announced the closure of a $10 million Series A extension round. This significant infusion of capital, led by PeakSpan Capital and Las Olas Venture Capital with additional support from a venture debt facility provided by Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank.
And is a testament to Leasecake’s unwavering dedication to simplifying and safeguarding the complex real estate and location management operations for franchise and corporate entities. In an era where the operational landscape for multi-unit restaurants and service-based retailers is fraught with complexity and heightened risk, Leasecake’s innovative AI-driven platform offers much-needed peace of mind.
“In today’s fast-paced business environment, multi-unit operators face unprecedented challenges. The last thing they need is the stress of overlooked lease and contractual obligations, which could have dire consequences,” said Scott Williamson, CEO of Leasecake. “Our cutting-edge technology not only alleviates these concerns but also empowers our clients to concentrate on expansion. We’re invigorated by our investors’ confidence in our vision and their continued support of our journey.”
This new round of funding will enable further refinements to Leasecake’s platform, ensuring it meets the evolving demands of multi-unit operators. Additionally, it will support the expansion of the company’s offerings to accommodate its growing customer base. Over the last year, it has seen remarkable user growth, doubling the number of platform users, which now spans thousands of brands and tens of thousands of locations throughout the United States and Canada.
Phil Dur, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of PeakSpan Capital, expressed enthusiasm about continuing their support for the company, saying, “We’re committed to backing Leasecake as they redefine the use of technology in minimizing operational risks for restaurants and service-based retailers. Leasecake’s platform, which simplifies complex operations, is swiftly setting a new standard for the industry.”
Leasecake’s comprehensive suite of features significantly reduces the risk of common pitfalls such as missing lease renewals, failing lease accounting audits, negotiating unfavourable leases, overpayments in Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges, delayed store openings, and more.
“The demand for a unified platform to safeguard real estate interests and streamline location management tasks is more pressing than ever,” said Taj Adhav, Founder of Leasecake. “That’s the motivation behind the company – to offer the most user-friendly, modern Real Estate and Location Management platform on the market.”
Nate Vasel, Partner at Las Olas Venture Capital, also conveyed his excitement for further supporting the company, stating, “We are happy to continue supporting Leasecake. With its innovative platform focused on delivering value for franchisees and franchisors, Leasecake is rapidly becoming the industry standard lease management solution.”
The combination of its intuitive interface, competitive pricing, and comprehensive functionality has garnered widespread acclaim, earning numerous awards including the Overall Lease Management Company of the Year at the 2023 PropTech Breakthrough Awards and #1 rankings in over 31 categories on G2 for Lease Management and Lease Accounting. For more details, please visit www.leasecake.com.
What keeps multifamily property owners & operators up at night asks HappyCo?
Press Release – San Diego, CA – April 2024 – HappyCo announced today the debut of Centralized Maintenance, marking an industry-first step towards transforming maintenance operations from a challenge into a strategic advantage for multifamily property owners and managers.
Powered by its custom-trained artificial intelligence (AI) companion, aptly named JoyAI, the platform automates and optimizes everything from real-time scheduling and technician matching to 24/7 resident communications, intelligent inventory management, and remote technician expertise.
Hiring maintenance staff is cited by multifamily leaders as the most challenging labour issue. Scattered point solutions only exacerbate this. Drawing on direct industry feedback and a proven track record of nearly 4 million units served, HappyCo introduces Centralized Maintenance to meet demonstrable demand.
“We’ve had hundreds of conversations with property owners, managers, and technicians to pinpoint their biggest challenges around centralization — maintenance topped the charts,” said Jindou Lee, Founder and CEO at HappyCo. “Labor shortages, inventory management stop gaps, and highly manual scheduling have delayed repairs while incurring unnecessary costs and lost time for too long. At HappyCo, we’re proud to give maintenance operations and teams the attention and innovation they deserve.”
AI and automation has been optimizing manual, time-consuming tasks across the industry, from self-guided touring to front-office leasing and payments. HappyCo expands its leading software solutions and services for multifamily operations to centralize maintenance with the behind-the-scenes power of JoyAI.
“Traditional maintenance technologies are patchworked and do not deliver on the change management needed for efficient implementation,” said Dan Regan, Director of Integrated Operations at Mark-Taylor, Inc. “As we continue to push towards the future of centralized operations and excellence, HappyCo’s integrated platform solution will only further power our ability to standardize crucial workflows and processes.”
Centralized Maintenance simplifies and streamlines work orders with intelligent automation to maximize operational efficiency. Key features and capabilities includes; Maintenance Team Control Center: Streamlines work orders by auto-assigning tasks to onsite and remote technicians based on their skills and location. Intelligent Work Orders: Automatically enriches work orders with necessary details, categorizes them, and reduces follow-ups to enhance service quality.
With Centralized Maintenance, operators can optimize maintenance team efficiency, leading to cost savings and strategic spend management. Real-time inventory management and smart work order assignment not only streamline workflows but also prevent unnecessary expenditures, ensuring maintenance is as efficient as effective.
Blanton Turner has relied on HappyCo’s flagship product suite, including Happy Property and Happy Force, as a “one-stop-shop” for centralization. With this, the team has seen a 20% time savings for maintenance technicians and a one-third reduction in time to resolve work orders overall.
“Relationships are responsibilities,” said Heidi Turner, Principal and Cofounder at Blanton Turner. “If residents have a broken lightbulb and we respond back in minutes with a self-serve option, that’s amazing. If they need a faucet replaced and we can schedule a technician in real-time, that’s automation. The ability to streamline all of this and more? That’s HappyCo.”
“Today’s residents don’t just want things fixed; they expect on-demand, high-touch service and updates throughout the work order lifecycle,” said Owen Fleming, Director of Capital Projects at HNN Communities. “With Centralized Maintenance and AI-powered scheduling, we’re excited to help our property teams balance tasks and valuable time that match their core expertise and needs of the residents we serve.”
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
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