Brazil’s Proptech EmCasa reinvents realtor role and receives US$21 million investment

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Like most entrepreneurs in charge of innovative business ideas, Gustavo Vaz founded real estate startup EmCasa based on a personal experience.

As a child, Vaz watched his mother, a real estate broker, in her profession’s daily routine and its main obstacles. Years later, the proptech emerged to solve part of these obstacles: access to technology and professional stability. The company’s mission has attracted investors for a R$100 (US$21) million investment round.

Founded in 2018 by Gustavo Vaz and entrepreneurs Lucas Cardozo and Gabriel Laet, EmCasa wants to offer the best experience for buyers or sellers of real estate in Brazil. To this end the company proposes to unite technology and brokers to ensure more intuitive sales and continuous support during the search for a property.

“The realtor has always played a very important role in one of the most important purchasing decisions in a person’s life, but at the same time has never had access to the tools to support this process,” said Gustavo Vaz, the company’s founder and CEO.

Vaz was director of operations at Easy Taxi for four years, and after realizing how much the use of data can impact the operation of important industries, he decided that the path to EmCasa’s success lay in the development of a proprietary technology.

“We realized that there was a huge opportunity with respect to the broker’s role in advising customers, and that would require technology,” he said.

EmCasa’s technology

In practice, the company’s founders created several algorithms that determine the best realtor for each client profile, a kind of “match” in the real estate market. The proptech also recommends the most suitable group of properties for sale based on a buyer’s browsing on the website itself, which makes it easier for brokers to advise clients.

“We have basically created a new profession, reinventing the consultant’s role and making their journey much easier,” he said.

On another front, the technology also plays a management role, with continuous assistance during the broker’s activities – who is now given the name of sales specialist. “The system understands the particularity of each buyer and guides the specialist to provide the best answers based on what the client needs at that moment,” he explained.

To further support the discourse of technology as the key to boost sales, EmCasa also provides digitalization of all stages of the purchase of a property, from its 3D virtual tour to the signing of the contract.

However, the company’s differential lies in the inclusion of all sales specialists in the startup’s team. All salespeople are contract employees and receive fixed salaries, which separates the profession from having earnings tied to sales, the famous commissions. “Professionals feel much less pressured, thereby simplifying the process, making it safer and uncomplicated for customers,” the CEO said.

To boost this business model, the startup has just received an investment of R$100 million in a round that involved venture capital funds Igah Ventures, Globo Ventures, Monashees, MAYA Capital, Pear Ventures, NBV, ONEVC and Flybridge, which has previously invested in MadeiraMadeira unicorn.

The company had received R$48 million in investments prior to this fundraising. The amount was used to build the systems and methodologies the company currently employs. Part of the investment was also used to increase the team and the marketplace, which currently has over 10,000 registered properties.

With the new investment, EmCasa is looking to expand regionally. Currently in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the company wants to reach new cities, increase the customer base and hire new sales specialists. The team currently comprises 80 salespeople.

Secondly, it intends to direct a good part of the capital to new technologies. The aim is to increase the accuracy level of recommendations and to expand the number of criteria used to recommend properties. “We know we have a model that works, but we realize that in the technology market everything becomes obsolete very quickly. Constant evolution is needed,” Vaz said.

This technological leap will be enabled by a reinforcement in the technology team: the company will triple the number of developers over the next three years.

Source: Exame