Proptech startup closes $636K pre-seed round, building on real estate product collabs
July 13, 2021 | Austin Barnes
More than a half-million dollars in pre-seed funding has a Kansas City-built proptech startup movin’ on up, bringing it a few floors closer to realizing its goal of becoming Stripe for the real estate industry.
“It feels so unreal,” David Biga, founder and CEO, told Startland News Monday in announcement of the startup’s newly-closed $636,000 round of pre-seed funding.
Angel investors from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska participated in the round, but were not disclosed.
Particle Space is a free, cloud-based property management software platform for connecting building, property, and tenant management.
Click here to learn more about Particle Space.
In the months ahead, Biga said he hopes to use the funding to double the startup’s five-employee headcount. Increased capital and a larger team are also expected to strengthen the position of Particle Space in its run toward building sustainable, internet-based real estate infrastructure.
“We’ve spent so much time bootstrapped and operating as efficiently as possible. But, there becomes a time when you need the cash injection to hit a certain level of scale,” he said, noting previous funding opportunities such as a $25,000 Digital Sandbox KC grant have allowed the company to establish itself on solid ground.
Click here to learn more about the beginnings of Particle Space and Biga — one of several young tech minds who played a role in growing one of Kansas City’s most lauded startups, EyeVerify.
“We’re going to take our technology and enable other startups, small, large, or enterprise companies to save six-plus months [in the development process] by utilizing our cloud services to build their own products,” he said. “Think Stripe, but for the real-estate market.”
“Real estate is one of those markets that has so much disconnect in the technology realm. Our biggest asset has been the foundation of technology we’ve built for our management software and the direction we are taking our technology,” Biga continued, noting such strategy attracted more investors and funding than the company originally anticipated.
“When I shared our vision for taking our technology and enabling real estate startups or larger tech-enabled businesses to start building their own products using our product, they jumped at the opportunity,” he said.
The startup then secured more than $100,000 in additional funds, Biga noted.
“I’m extremely humbled and blessed all at the same time. It’s also a wake up call that you have an opportunity to do something really big — and you need to be a good steward of what’s been given. I’m ready to get out there and make it happen.”
Curious what else Biga has to say about his startup journey? Click here to register for a virtual conversation hosted by Digital Sandbox KC 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 13 that explores defining product scope and working with vendors to build products and bring concepts to life.
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