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.
[pullquote]
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.
[/pullquote]
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.
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
SNAP cuts are ‘worse than they look on paper’: Food access advocates warn shelves could go bare overnight
Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant doesn’t mince words about perceptions of the hungry Kansas Citians she serves daily through her award-winning culinary social venture. “These are the people who — if you listen to the rhetoric — are deemed ‘lazy,’” the founder of The Prospect KC’s NourishKC Community Kitchen told Startland News. “We know the narratives being…
LISTEN: Fermenting a clean future through products from meat alternatives to skin creams and baby formula
On this episode of Startland News’ Plug and Play Topeka founder podcast series, we chat with Francesca Gallucci of Natáur, a Baltimore-based biotech company that’s reimagining how essential nutrients are made. Combining synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and eco-friendly fermentation, they’re producing bio-based taurine (and other naturally occurring sulfur compounds) without relying on petroleum. Gallucci takes…
KCMO slashes fees for outdoor dining permits, launches dining trail for grant winning projects
Kansas City has officially eliminated outdoor dining permit fees, reducing the cost from $850 to zero, thanks to the momentum created by a city-led initiative to encourage investment in outdoor dining experiences, city leaders announced this week, unveiling new plans to promote funded businesses and their projects. Launched in 2024, the Outdoor Dining Enhancement Program…
World Cup will produce KC small biz millionaires in just weeks, leaders say, but it’s only the start
Kansas City can’t look at the World Cup in 2026 as one big event where businesses are going to make good money for a while, and then everything goes back to normal, said Wes Rogers. “This has to be the beginning of the next chapter of our city,” the 2nd District Councilman for Kansas City,…
