Property.Works, an online marketplace for commercial property, has announced the closure of a £1.5m Seed round. The company raked in investment from Passion Capital, M7 Real Estate, and former JLL European head Robert Orr.
Launched in December last year, it was founded by serial tech entrepreneur Joe Cohen – who founded Seatwave and sold it to Ticketmaster – Property.Works seeks to make it easier for SMEs to view available commercial space online and to contact agents to request additional information or arrange viewings.
In a statement, Cohen said,
With an estimated 200,000 UK properties available to let in the commercial sector, we saw that there was a significant opportunity to provide a dedicated service for letting agents to become better marketers in this rapidly changing market. This funding will enable us to scale Property.Works given the rapidly growing interest from SME’s seeking space and agents who want to reach un-represented tenants.
Focused on bringing transparency and discovery to a traditionally murky industry, it is designed to aggregate as many properties as possible in its search engine and then provide prospective tenants with the tools and tips they need to find the space that’s right for them. Part of its mission is to become a reliable partner to agents and landlords who are facing a whole new set of marketing challenges in our mobile-driven world.
He also added,
Over the next decade, businesses will increasingly seek to satisfy their property needs themselves as they already do in law, insurance, accountancy and other traditional professions. Property.Works is building a platform to assist agents in this transition by becoming a great marketing and analytics partner to commercial agencies.
When asked about his decision to invest in the company, Orr made it clear that the team’s expertise was what largely clinched it for him,
Property.Works and its team are uniquely positioned to build a great platform for agents and SME occupiers due to their focus on the user experience and their demonstrated ability to successfully execute on their plans. I’ve chosen to put my time and investment behind them because I believe in their ability to serve the needs of, and transform, the market.
