Commercial real estate startup Truss announced on Wednesday that it has secured a $7.7 million Series A round.
Navitas Capital led the round, with participation from Hyde Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners –– which was also part of the company’s seed round.
“Efficiency hasn’t yet been addressed in the commercial real estate industry,” said Hyde Park Angels managing director Peter Wilkins in a statement. “CRE is now ripe for disruption. Given the overall economics and the team’s previous success, we believe Truss is in a great position to drive market adoption and traction.”
Truss simplifies the office space search for small and medium-sized businesses. It does this by making the search process similar to what someone looking to buy a house or apartment experiences. The middleman is cut out, with landlords posting listings directly to the platform.
All listings are accompanied by professional photography, and tours can be scheduled through the platform. When renters have questions or need help, they can turn to Vera, Truss’ A.I. chatbot. Vera can schedule tours, notify users about new listings and even provide the fair market value price of an office space.
With its fresh funding, Truss plans to open additional markets, make its chatbot smarter and improve the customer experience. The startup currently operates in Chicago and Dallas, and Truss co-founder Tom Smith told the Chicago Tribune that the company will expand across Texas first before moving into both coasts.
“With this latest round of funding we are able to further refine our solution and bring it to more places,” Smith said in a press release. “We’re excited to overcome the hurdles that startups, SMBs and other tenants looking for smaller office spaces have had to face.”
Truss said it plans to improve the customer experience by using Matterport 3D cameras to offer more complete virtual tours of properties. The company didn’t say when this feature would roll out, or whether it would include support for VR headsets.
Truss’ Series A brings its total funding to $9.2 million.
Image via Shutterstock.
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