When Dylan Lenz was burned by a lousy tenant, he applied his tech savvy to a real-world problem and started a housing-focused business that含羞草研究社檚 growing faster than the local rental market has dried up.
含羞草研究社淏asically I put my life savings into a rental property in Kelowna and the tenants were bad,含羞草研究社� said Lenz.
These 含羞草研究社減rofessional tenants含羞草研究社� knew how to work the system, he said, ultimately leaving him out four months of time and $22,000 in unpaid rent, repairs and eviction fees.
The setback sent the UBC Okanagan grad into action, proving yet again that necessity is the mother of invention.
含羞草研究社淚t was a pretty rude wakeup, so 30 days after that tenant was evicted I started the company.含羞草研究社�
Naborly is its name, and his partners are fellow UBC Okanagan alum Zeke Kan and Anastasia Fox.
Naborly gives landlords greater insight into whether a potential renter is a risk by analyzing 500 data points.
Looking into things like social media presence, credit scores and rental histories, they含羞草研究社檙e able to assess the likelihood of a tenant being evicted, paying their rent late, vacating early and damaging the property.
According to Lenz, the program has a 99 per cent success rate. What含羞草研究社檚 perhaps more relevant is that the public appetite for a product of Naborly含羞草研究社檚 kind is strong.
The company is seeing revenue of $2,000 per day and they含羞草研究社檙e hitting about 20 to 50 new landlords daily.
含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e solving a really unsexy problem,含羞草研究社� said Lenz, noting that many small-scale landlords don含羞草研究社檛 have the power needed to screen clients effectively. 含羞草研究社淓veryone wants to solve a social media problem or build a travel app. But I was a young landlord and had a background in technology so含羞草研究社e are willing to build a product that isn含羞草研究社檛 the most interesting, but is useful.含羞草研究社�
While they含羞草研究社檝e had some initial successes, Lenz points out they need more capital to expand so they含羞草研究社檙e entering the process of raising another round of funding.
To date, they含羞草研究社檝e raised $500,000 and are looking to raise $2 million in seed capital. 含羞草研究社淲e have our lead investor locked in, but we are trying to put the rest of the money together,含羞草研究社� he said, noting that they含羞草研究社檙e focused on securing Canadian investors.
含羞草研究社淭he goal of this company is not to be acquired by a bigger U.S. firm. We want to build a legitimate Canadian start up company.含羞草研究社�
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Early on in the development of Naborly, Lenz and his partners realized they had to leave Kelowna if they were going to be successful.
含羞草研究社淜elowna is limited if you are a start-up trying to make it,含羞草研究社� he said.
Roughly 90 per cent of Naborly含羞草研究社檚 largest customers are in Toronto and perhaps more importantly, being in a larger city has allowed the company better access to venture capital, an affordable employee base and high quality advisors 含羞草研究社攁ll of which exist in Kelowna, said Lenz, but not in the quantity that含羞草研究社檚 needed.
含羞草研究社淲hen we were in Kelowna we applied to Accelerate Okanagan, and it was almost impossible to get a meeting,含羞草研究社� he said.
含羞草研究社淲hen we did, they said, 含羞草研究社楾hat含羞草研究社檚 cool, but it含羞草研究社檚 not a good fit for us.含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫
When Naborly moved to Toronto, 含羞草研究社渆veryone was super receptive.含羞草研究社�
They含羞草研究社檝e found a bounty of clients, and now have 8,500 landlords, representing 100,000 rental units. They also found a much deeper engineering talent pool.
含羞草研究社淚n Kelowna, Disney, Procera and other successful companies soak up the talent, which makes it hard if you含羞草研究社檙e just starting up,含羞草研究社� Lenz said, explaining that a new company can only offer employees half of what the big companies can.
And then there was the funding. 含羞草研究社�$500,000 early on is the difference between a company failing and not failing,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淚f you look at any successful tech company, none of them have been chosen by the government and none of them have been given grants.含羞草研究社�
Lenz believes funding should be based on market demand alone.
Investors, however, are a bit more cautious than they once were.
含羞草研究社淭he market for tech start ups has changed,含羞草研究社� he said.
含羞草研究社淔or awhile money was running in the streets, but now you can含羞草研究社檛 get funding without a product or without a customer.含羞草研究社�
And the sexy products that are social media-oriented aren含羞草研究社檛 necessarily a success anymore.
Practicality may be what含羞草研究社檚 important to look for going forward.
Uber, for example, met a need. Lenz also read a story recently that highlighted a tech company含羞草研究社檚 solution to shipping tanker conundrums, and has been a big success.
含羞草研究社淲ho knows, maybe tenant screening will be the next big success,含羞草研究社� he said.
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Although it still hasn含羞草研究社檛 earned the moniker 含羞草研究社渢ech hub含羞草研究社� Kelowna含羞草研究社檚 politicians continue to work toward making the city more friendly to the industry.
含羞草研究社淲e are trying to do whatever we can to promote tech in Kelowna,含羞草研究社� Mayor Colin Basran said in an interview earlier this year, following an announcement from Accelerate Okanagan that the tech industry was adding $1 billion to the economy annually.
Among the city含羞草研究社檚 endeavours aimed at bringing tech companies to the shores of Okanagan Lake is the installation of about 13 kms of fibre optic cable to provide high bandwidth data services to a number of city facilities.
The fibre optic cable implementation has provided significant operational cost savings, faster data response time and innovative new ways of providing service.
The city also intentionally over-built the network to include extra optic fibre to accommodate future city needs and be available for lease to move significant amounts of data.
Another piece of the puzzle is the Innovation Centre, which should be completed in November on land the city provided.
Accelerate Okanagan, a business support system for tech companies in the startup or growing phases, will move into the building and find a network of services.
They含羞草研究社檝e recently announced a measure aimed at dealing with the lamented funding gap.
Atrium Ventures VCC Inc. (Atrium) created a $5-million investment fund dedicated to nurturing early stage companies in B.C.含羞草研究社檚 technology sector.
Fund manager Jeff Keen, director of Wheelhouse Management Inc., described it as a 含羞草研究社減re-seed/seed stage fund含羞草研究社� that will target promising technology ventures looking to secure equity-based growth capital.
Anchored by commitments of
$1 million from the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust, $750,000 from Interior Savings Credit Union and a growing list of forward-thinking angel investors, Atrium aims to fill a critical gap for early stage tech startups looking to raise equity capital.
含羞草研究社淎 long-time challenge facing all founders of early stage tech companies and, specifically, companies based in the Okanagan where there is no established venture capital presence, is access to a formalized funding source. Many times these founders are forced to seek capital outside the local community and we aim to change that,含羞草研究社� said Keen.
Luanne Chore, CEO of SIDIT, sees the fund as a natural extension of their mandate to support strategic investments in economic development projects in the Southern Interior.
含羞草研究社淪IDIT is thrilled to be part of Atrium because it allows us to support economic growth in the region, helping companies at a very early, often tenuous stage,含羞草研究社� said Chore. 含羞草研究社淭hat含羞草研究社檚 something that has not always been viable through SIDIT含羞草研究社檚 traditional fund structure.含羞草研究社�
Further lessening the burden on startups, as VCC established through B.C.含羞草研究社檚 Investment Capital Branch, Atrium investors will receive a 30 per cent refundable B.C. tax credit.
