Real estate tech firm RealQuantum moving from bootcamp to LaunchKC stage

Lacking the sex appeal of tech and other high-growth, super-charged industries, the world of commercial real estate is ripe for change, said Jeff Weiner. LaunchKC competitor RealQuantum is ready to modernize that landscape, he said.

Jeff Weiner, RealQuantum

“Serving a critical need that doesn’t really get a lot of attention is a really smart place to be and we’re glad to be able to do that with a local team with 100 percent local investment,” Weiner, RealQuantum’s chief marketing officer said of the company’s growing reach in the software space.

The Kansas City firm is set to be among 20 startups vying Friday for their piece of $500,000 in non-dilutive grants from LaunchKC and the opportunity to build their new and emerging tech businesses in Kansas City, Missouri.

Specializing in the simplification of tedious real estate appraisals, RealQuantum allows busy real estate appraisers the opportunity to increase productivity through the use of its web-based narrative appraisal software and cloud-hosted comps database, explained CEO Mark Davis. The technology elevates the real estate appraisal industry, bringing it into the 21st century, he said.

A casual breakfast with a friend –– Dennis Dull, who would become the company’s co-founder –– sparked Davis’ initial idea for RealQuantum three years ago, Weiner said. 

“He had been complaining about his job as a commercial real estate appraiser and, in particular, his company’s cumbersome software,” Weiner said of Davis. “Mark is a technology architecture consultant, so he asked [him] to elaborate.”

Demand for the RealQuantum software has increased greatly in 2018, resulting in new opportunities for the company, Davis said. During the past month, the RealQuantum team has brought a senior software developer on board –– the result of their appearance on the 1 Million Cups KC stage, he said.

“He came up and introduced himself afterward and we had a few meetings after that to make sure everything was a right fit,” Davis said.

Building momentum, RealQuantum found itself elevated by a nomination for LaunchKC. Such opportunities are rare and must be taken seriously, Davis said.

RealQuantum’s team is excitedly preparing for their pitch to the competitions judges, their first major shot at inciting impact within the local tech space, he said with humble optimism as he spoke of the welcome RealQuantum has received from Kansas City’s startup ecosystem.

“Technically, we could exist anywhere and we could all work remote,” Davis said. “We’re intentional about being in Kansas City because we think it’s the right place to be.”

In preparation of LaunchKC, Weiner and Davis took part in the Enterprise Center of Johnson County’s Pitch Perfect boot camp over the summer, Weiner said.

“That was incredibly high value,” he said. “[The boot camp] led immediately into the opportunity to apply for LaunchKC and the timing of that was so effective. So, we did our best to leverage those two very effective programs and we’ll see what happens.”

Bootstrapped until recent weeks, RealQuantum is riding a path of progress in light of receiving first-round ceed funding, Weiner touted. Couple the funds with their LaunchKC nomination and the trajectory of success for RealQuantum can only climb higher, he said.