NOEW, presented by Entergy’s innovation lab, KeyString Labs, celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of New Orleans

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

Cox Enterprises is a communications, media, and automotive services company. With revenues of $18 billion and approximately 60,000 employees, the company's major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications (cable television distribution, high-speed Internet access, telephone, home security, and automation, commercial telecommunications, and advertising solutions); Cox Automotive (automotive-related auctions, financial services, media, and software solutions); and Cox Media Group (television and radio stations, digital media, newspapers, and advertising sales rep firms). The company's major national brands include Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and Manheim. Through Cox Automotive, the company's international operations stretch across Asia, Australia, Europe, and Latin America.

Cox Enterprises

Irongrey is a global investment firm that empowers entrepreneurs in building innovative and disruptive businesses.  Irongrey invests in venture capital and PE funds.  Irongrey  was founded in 2012 and was headquartered in Seoul, Korea.

Irongrey

Context Ventures is an advisory and project management firm that specializes in helping municipalities, nonprofit organizations, corporate and community-based philanthropies and developers initiate, cultivate, and implement sustainable projects and programs that support cities and their communities.

Context Ventures

RentCheck

RentCheck is the essential nationwide provider of transparency and security, enabling landlords and residents alike to achieve serenity. They offer an app that saves money, time and prevents grief by standardizing move-in and move-out inspections and streamlining the security deposit deduction process. RentCheck solutions empower residents to emulate owners in order to maximize the return of their security deposit.

<div>RentCheck offers a platform that digitizes the property inspection process for property managers and enables tenants to complete self-guided property inspections using their smartphones to guide them to take pictures of necessary areas such as floors, ceilings and windows—which are then directly captured on the platform. This then allows property managers to access property inspection reports via the platform to identify the property’s state of condition and avoid any disputes over security deposits to be paid out when tenants vacate their rental properties. </div>

Property owners and real estate companies are able to handle larger portfolios while offering faster and cheaper services.

Residential PropTech

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 RentCheck offers a platform that digitizes the property inspection process for property managers and enables tenants to complete self-guided property inspections using their smartphones to guide them to take pictures of necessary areas such as floors, ceilings and windows—which are then directly captured on the platform. This then allows property managers to access property inspection reports via the platform to identify the property’s state of condition and avoid any disputes over security deposits to be paid out when tenants vacate their rental properties. 
 
 
 Since launching in 2019, the company claims that the number of properties inspected by the platform have grown by around 1,000%. The company has stated that its significant growth was due to pandemic-driven demand for contactless property inspections.  
 
 
 The platform charges property managers a subscription fee between USD 5-75 per month based on the number of properties hosted on the platform. 
 
 
 In August 2021, the company raised USD 3.6 million in seed funding to scale up operations from investors such as Cox Enterprises, Irongrey, Context Ventures and Techstars, and a few individual investors such as Jim Payne, Ken Goldman, Mark Zaleski, John Kuolt and Brian Long. 
 
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 Houzz is a platform connecting homeowners with vendors such as home improvement professionals, interior designers, and others. The platform gives opportunities to home improvement professionals to showcase their work and provide contact information so they can be reached by homeowners in need of such services. 
 
 
 Over time, the company has also established an e-commerce marketplace for selling goods, such as furniture and others. 
 
 
 The company has operations across 14 countries as of 2018, including the US. The company was valued at around USD 4 billion when it raised its last funding round in 2017.
 
 
 The company’s core business is to offer subscription plans to vendors so they can list their services. The subscription fee without marketing services (known as Lead Program) ranges from USD 59 to USD 99 per month, while including marketing services costs around USD 199 to USD 999 per month. Aside from that, the company also generates revenue from advertisements and commission fees from the e-commerce marketplace.
 
 
 Houzz was impacted negatively by the Covid-19 pandemic and had to lay off 155 employees (10% of the total) in April 2020. However, that was not the first layoff as it also let go of around 180 employees in January 2019 when the company stated that it was preparing for its IPO. The IPO is expected to be finalized in early 2022.
 
 
 In December 2021, Houzz acquired an Australian-based SaaS platform providing home construction planning and professional estimation tools through ConX. ConX’s tools were to be built into the end-to-end Houzz Pro offering to serve construction contractors better through the Houzz platform. It, therefore, allowed users of the Houzz platform to streamline the estimation process and efficiently manage workflow when undertaking home improvement projects.  
 
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Houzz

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 DocuSign offers eSignature tools to facilitate the management of electronic agreements. These tools enable users to upload and send documents that require signatures, with other features such as checking the status, sending reminders, and storing documents online. The company offers its services to many sectors, including real estate, healthcare and insurance. As of June 2021, the company served over 890,000 customers across 180 countries.&nbsp;
 
 
 For the real estate sector, DocuSign automates many transaction processes by providing electronic signing of documents, online notarizations, and a&nbsp; collaboration workspace for the relevant parties (buyers, sellers, agents, etc.). DocuSign claims it helps the property sector reduce paper costs and speeds up the process, while reporting that around 82% of documents sent through its platform get signed within a day.&nbsp;
 
 
 DocuSign has two subscription plans for real estate: 1) real estate starter (USD 15 per month/USD 120 per year) and 2) DocuSign for Realtors (USD 35 per month/USD 240 per year).
 
 
 DocuSign went public in 2018 and was valued at around USD 4.4 billion at the time of its listing.&nbsp;
 
 
 For 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9055?industryIds=37">
 FY2022
 </a>
 , DocuSign reported a total revenue of USD 2.1 billion (up 45.0% YoY), compared to a total revenue of USD 1.5 billion recorded for FY 2021. The non-GAAP operating income margin for FY 2022 was reported as 19.9% (up 7.5 percentage points YoY) from a margin of 12.4% recorded for FY 2021.&nbsp;
 
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DocuSign

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 HomeLight initially started as an agent matching platform for home buyers and sellers, but has expanded its product portfolio to provide title and escrow, home estimation, home loans, and other services.
 
 
 For the agent matching service, buyers and sellers answer online questionnaires to determine their specific needs. The platform then uses an algorithm to crunch historical transaction data to find the most suitable agents in its database, which included 28,000 agents as of September 2021. The platform typically lists up to three agents for buyers/sellers to select from and offers a consultation service to refine the selection further and ensure clients get the most suitable agents.
 
 
 HomeLight also provides a trade-in service, where it will guarantee to pay a certain price for the client’s current home. This way, clients do not need to worry about home sale contingency (a new home transaction is contingent on the sale of an existing home) when they want to purchase a new home. In addition, clients will get additional cash (less any selling-related costs and trade-in fees) if HomeLight can sell their old homes in the market for more than the guaranteed prices (i.e., clients can get the full market value).
 
 
 The platform is available for free to buyers and sellers, but the agent matching service charges a standard referral fee of 25% to the gross commission of agents when they get selected. The platform stated that its recommendations are transparent and based solely on the agents’ performance metrics. In August 2020, HomeLight acquired a transaction management tool, Disclosures.io, that enables real estate professionals to manage transactions as well as market and sell homes in one place. In June 2022, HomeLight acquired Accept, a property financing platform, for an undisclosed amount. Through the acquisition, HomeLight leveraged Accept’s tech-based mortgage solution to offer clients a contingency-free transaction and provide homebuyers with pre-qualified mortgages to facilitate cash offers.
 
 
 As of September 2021, the company had served over one million customers and expected its revenue to exceed USD 300 million in 2021, triple that of 2020. HomeLight’s Cash Offer, the service that allows homebuyers to make upfront cash offers through its certified agents, grew by 500% YoY in transaction volume and achieved USD 3 billion in combined referred transaction value with Accept.Inc in Q1 2022
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11160?industryIds=37">
 In June 2022
 </a>
 , HomeLight raised a USD 60 million extension to its Series D funding in September 2021. This funding was from Zeev Ventures and valued the company at USD 1.7 billion. The company also raised USD 55 million in debt financing during this round and planned to use the funds to pursue business expansion and sustain the turbulent housing market during the following two years. In September 2021, the company raised a total of USD 363 million in funding through a combination of equity and debt financing. The round includes USD 100 million in private equity funding led by Zeev Ventures—which valued the company at USD 1.6 billion— while the remaining USD 263 million was raised in the form of debt financing. The new funds will be geared toward further development of its platform, in addition to expanding into new states.
 
 
 
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HomeLight

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 Porch operates a home services platform. In the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, Porch provides an online marketplace that connects homeowners with home improvement professionals (e.g. appliance repair, electricians, plumbers, etc.). The company states that it works with two out of every three homebuyers in the US every month. The company also offers home moving and handyman services, as well as home and auto insurance. It&nbsp;
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25523">
 launched RynohVerifi
 </a>
 , a fraud warning tool aimed to offer fraud protection for title and escrow companies in January 2024.
 
 
 In the business-to-business (B2B) segment, the company provides home inspection software and home moving software for home service companies. Porch has formed partnerships with many leading companies across a number of verticals, including real estate companies, home inspection companies, retail companies, home warranty companies, and others.
 
 
 Although the company&rsquo;s core focus has been home improvement and repair services, Porch has also made notable acquisitions to branch out into new segments. In January 2021, the company acquired Homeowners of America (home insurance provider) for USD 100 million, V12 Data (omnichannel marketing data solution provider) for USD 22 million, and Palm-Tech (home-inspection software company) and iRoofing (roofing app for contractors) for undisclosed amounts.
 
 
 In July 2020, Porch announced a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), PropTech Acquisition Corporation, through which the company would go public. The merger was finalized in December 2020, and the company began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker &lsquo;PRCH&rsquo;, raising a total of more than USD 322 million at a valuation of over USD 1 billion.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 For FY2023, Porch reported 56% YoY growth in total revenue to USD 430.3 million, compared to USD 275.9 million recorded in FY2022. Adjusted EBITDA loss for FY2023 amounted to USD 44.5 million (translating to an adjusted EBITDA margin of -10%), compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of USD 49.6 million recorded a year ago (translating to an adjusted EBITDA margin of -18%).
 
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Porch

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 Mynd operates a platform for individual investors (i.e individual landlords) of Single Family Rental (SFR) properties that provides full-service property management (mostly to individual owners) using digital leasing with 3D tours, self-showings, tenant screening, tenant and owner portals, financial reporting, electronic rent collection, repairs and maintenance, a dedicated portfolio manager, and 24/7 emergency support.
 
 
 The company claims the platform has reduced leasing times and generated high-quality tenants with low delinquency for its users. One advantage of using Mynd is that the company provides a guarantee of up to USD 5,000 when 1) tenants fail to pay rent, 2) damage to the properties beyond the normal wear and tear, and 3) tenants cannot pay and get evicted. The company has different subscription fees for various cities. The company’s pricing for its full service without guarantees ranges from USD 69 - 99 per month, while its prices range between USD 99 - 199 per month with the inclusion of guarantees. As of June 2021, Mynd had purchased an average of 50 homes per month, which the company expects to increase to 1,000 homes per month by 2022. 
 
 
 As of September 2021, the company managed over 9,000 homes and operated in 25 cities in the US, and hopes to expand into 15 new cities within the next three years.
 
 
 In September 2021, the company raised USD USD 57.3 million in funding from QED investors. Apart from further developing its technology and platform, the fresh funds will be used to expand its workforce and increase its national footprint. 
 
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Mynd

Allows real estate agents to create 3D virtual tours for properties

Uses AI/ML to support property related tasks such as rental payments and spatial data capturing

Uses GenAI to help customers navigate listings, enhance marketing content, and automate communications

Transaction closing tools that use the blockchain to facilitate title and escrow services

Tools for automating property lease management workflow processes. Some startups handle the entire leasing process while others only handle part of the process (e.g., rent collection). Leasing tools for agents are included here.

RentCheck

Residential PropTech

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RentCheck raises USD 3.6 million in seed funding

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