The company wants to become the market leader in Europe.
(Photo: Casavi)
Munich The corona pandemic has also given the more conservative real estate industry a boost to digitization. During the lockdowns, many property managers and housing companies that still worked a lot with files and telephones switched to software solutions.
Casavi has particularly benefited from this trend. The Munich start-up has developed a digital platform for the industry. “It was a great year for us,” said co-founder Oliver Stamm to the Handelsblatt. According to industry estimates, sales are likely to have doubled to a higher single-digit million figure this year.
Now the company has also been able to convince other investors. Casavi has raised 20 million euros in fresh capital, as it became known on Thursday. The Series B financing round was led by digital + Partners, the Bavarian Growth Fund and the High-Tech Gründerfonds. The existing investors Dürr Proptec and Wenvest are also there. “We now want to accelerate growth again,” said Stamm. The aim is to become the “leading platform in Europe”.
Even before Corona there was a high need for digitization in the industry, said Stamm. “During the pandemic, the companies got another nudge and realized how urgently it was necessary to finally deal with digital real estate management.” In some cases, communication with tenants and customers could only be maintained with the help of digital solutions.
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With the software platform from Casavi, property managers and housing companies can communicate with tenants or buyers as well as service providers during the new construction phase and later during operation. Tradespeople’s appointments can be organized, documents made available in an app and, for example, bills sent automatically.
Its customers now include 620 property managers and housing associations.
(Photo: Casavi)
Customers now include 620 property managers and housing associations who manage more than 1.6 million units. With the proceeds from the financing round, the Casavi founders want to increase the team by 50 new employees to 125 employees and expand abroad.
Stamm also announced new platform modules for 2022. Among other things, these should enable hybrid owners’ meetings and help in dealing with the EU’s energy efficiency directive.
Proptech scene on the upswing
There is great interest in further digitization in the industry. This is also due to Corona. Before the pandemic, for example, according to a study by the industry association VDIV, only 16 percent of administrators allowed all their employees to work from home. Under Corona, almost 20 percent lost staff due to illness and 27 percent due to childcare.
In recent years, a small scene of technology companies has established itself in Germany that want to digitize the industry. Analogous to the fintechs in the financial sector, the companies call themselves proptechs. In addition to Casavi, these include Everreal, Realxdata, Allthings and Maklaro. In addition, the providers of ERP software are trying to integrate corresponding services.
But the start-up, founded in 2015 by Peter Schindlmeier, David Langer and Oliver Stamm, sees itself in a management position. “Casavi is in an excellent starting position to significantly shape the digital property management of the future through innovation and customer orientation”, Tim Kindt, partner at the new investor digital +, is convinced.
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