⦿ INSIGHTS

Why we invested in Proper

At byFounders, we instantly got excited about the idea of building a digital property manager that automates all manual tasks while also ensuring that the property owner and landlord feel in control. More importantly, we were captivated by the founders.
Why we invested in Proper
WRITTEN BY
Sara Rywe
Partner
WRITTEN BY

I remember my first pitch meeting with the team very well. We met in our office (yes, this was pre-COVID), and it merely took five minutes for me to be amazed by the clarity and engagement in which Morten presented the idea of Proper. He vividly painted a picture of property owners having several employees working with administrative tasks — such as keeping track of tenants and rental payments — across Excel spreadsheets.

At byFounders, we instantly got excited about the idea of building a digital property manager that automates all manual tasks while also ensuring that the property owner and landlord feel in control.

More importantly, we were captivated by the founders. Morten Krarup, the CEO and ‘hustler,’ continues to amaze us with thoughtful answers to our questions, a super clear vision, and a relentless work ethic. And Jacob Funch, the compassionate product lead with more than a decade of relevant tech experience and a unique understanding of how to prioritize product development based on the optimal user experience.

(And, yes, we were quite excited about the 30% month-on-month revenue growth with <1% churn as well. 😅)

Underestimating the Cumbersome Process of Handling Tenants

Do you know how many non-value-adding activities landlords, real estate investors, and tenants have to deal with daily? Sadly, the answer is a lot.

On this note, there was one customer reference call that stuck with me. I spoke with a landlord of student housing properties, and he told me about their work before and after using Proper. With new tenants moving in and out every semester and an inbox filled with questions — the landlord and his team spent all their time trying to track down rental payments and sending reminders instead of doing what they wanted to do, which was to give their tenants the best possible service.

Until they started using Proper. Suddenly, everything from contracts to tenant communication and rent reminders was now automated. More importantly, they could finally keep track of all the rent payments! I wasn’t aware of this, but monthly rent payments are not always made by the same person. One month it may come from the tenant, another her mom, and so on. When this happens, the property administrator has to play detective to match payments with tenancies manually. Proper connects each apartment to a virtual bank account, meaning that it automatically logs to the tenant no matter who pays the rent. So easy, yet so impactful.

Giving a Term Sheet Right After Lockdown

There are few times when a ‘level of trust’ is tested as much as it is in the midst of a global pandemic and lockdown. We committed to investing in Proper right before the world flipped on its head.

"I remember when we had just signed the term sheet, there was talk about this coronavirus, but it had not really hit Denmark yet. Two weeks later, the Danish Prime Minister shut down the country. Instantly, we started to hear about venture deals falling through left and right. We had a very good feeling about byFounders, but you can’t help think about the risk of the whole thing falling through. I’ve told Sara and Tommy several times that we’ll be forever grateful that they stuck to their word and their conviction in us, even when the world was falling apart." - Morten Krarup Kristensen, Co-Founder & CEO of Proper

For us, pulling out was never an alternative. We had a strong conviction in Proper, and we would never leave anyone out in the cold — even during a global crisis.

Doing Things Right

Since our first conversation, Jacob had emphasized the benefits of having a senior tech team in place. A team that knows how to do things right. For example, their software lead has more than 25 years of developer experience and was previously the lead architect at Swipp — Denmark’s first mobile payment solution.

It was not until our dear friend and byFounders Collective member, Morten Primdahl (co-founder and CTO of Zendesk), did technical due diligence that we understood the true potential of Proper’s product. The choice of technology, infrastructure, architecture, and methodology was not only under control but built in a modern way that even impressed ‘Mr. Zendesk’ himself.

It was clear that the team at Proper had managed to build a solid tech foundation that wouldn’t have to be reworked anytime soon.

Still Wondering Why We’re Excited?

With ever-increasing real estate prices (Germany and Sweden have grown by 90% and 57% respectively during the past decade!), large amounts of people are left with only one choice: to rent. But even though the rental population continues to expand, the rental management market is still suffering from poor service levels and a significant number of inefficient, manual processes.

In addition, new and more complex regulations — such as GDPR — make it difficult for landlords and investors to comply without real-time adjusted software.

It’s an industry ripe for disruption. Pair that with a strong founding team, and we have a well-positioned startup, ready to win this market and eat up market share from both incumbents, insourced administrators, and new players.

🤫 Psst! Their automation level — which allows for very competitive pricing — also enables them to scale easier and nurture healthier unit economics.

With a large market of almost 80 million tenants in Europe alone, we believe that there’s room for several multibillion-dollar winners in this space. We think that Proper is uniquely positioned to become one of them.

We are so excited and thankful to partner with the whole Proper team on their journey ahead!

More about the author(s)
Sara Rywe
Partner

Sara oversees our investments in Scandinavia - focusing primarily on Sweden, Norway, and Denmark - and has a particular interest in the future of work and FinTech. Her strong interest in social impact (and diversity!) is something that she continues to focus on here at byFounders and she is the mastermind behind our ‘impact-aware’ strategy.

More about the author(s)
No items found.
External
October 31, 2022

byFounders and Creative Force team up to bring leading e-commerce brands industry-changing solutions

Creative Force’s mission is to streamline and enable creative operations for leading e-commerce brands and online retailers. In a nutshell, they automate manual tasks so the creator can focus on creativity.
External
September 22, 2022

byFounders leads the €2.3 million pre-seed round in Cello: supercharging product growth by making word-of-mouth rewarding

Cello is the world’s first user-led growth platform that helps businesses to harness their most passionate users to drive word-of-mouth growth at scale.
External
July 8, 2022

Our investment in Salto X: the platform enabling token incentive plans for remote companies

“The main bottleneck for European startup growth is not the lack of capital, it’s the lack of talent!” This sentence has been said by many and I’m now stating it again because it’s sadly the truth. If we are serious about wanting Europe’s tech scene to thrive (and one day be on par - or better - than the US) then we need to drastically improve our ability to attract and retain talent.
External
May 20, 2022

Aumio raises €3 million to support children’s mental health through playful learning

We’ve been truly excited by the emergence of parenting tech for a while now, and supporting children and their parents in dealing with mental health struggles is a mission we obviously want to stand behind. We’ve been actively looking for the right combination of a product market fit and founder drive. When we came across Aumio - a unique sleep and mindfulness cosmos for children - jumping onboard was a no-brainer for us. Let us tell you why. 
External
December 17, 2021

London-based Fuzey, the digital one-stop-shop for SMEs and independent contractors, raises a €4m seed round

We’re so proud to lead the €4m seed round in London-based Fuzey: the all-in-one messaging platform that centralizes small businesses’ communications, payments, marketing, and calendars. 
External
November 2, 2021

Our Investment in Monta: Powering the EV Ecosystem

We invested in Monta in March this year. Since then, Casper and Anders and the rest of the team have not looked back and we are firm believers in Monta being on track to be the dominant EV charging platform in Europe and beyond. Here’s why:
External
October 29, 2021

Why we Invested in PipeBio: no-code SaaS for bioinformatics and drug development

The human costs of the pandemic forced the scientific community to rethink how processes, such as drug development, can be done 10x faster than before. PipeBio is at the frontline of that development.
External
September 10, 2021

Why We Invested in Januar: Financial infrastructure for crypto companies

For too long crypto native companies have been lacking a stable and secure banking foundation to run their businesses from without the fear of being shut down by their, presumed, banking partner. Enter Januar.
External
June 22, 2021

Why we invested in GamerzClass

When first meeting Victor Folmann and listening to a very candid podcast episode he did on Iværksætterhistorier we learned that Victor’s entrepreneurial career started already in his teens. He quickly realized that he had a knack for sales; whether it was vegetables or cell phones didn’t matter; you had something to sell; he was your guy.
External
June 18, 2021

Why We Invested in Smitten

Having been a long-time user of dating apps, I was intrigued when we got the tip that there was a brand new super-hot dating app in Iceland. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but after meeting David, understanding his background and vision for the product, and being blown away by his charisma and displayed drive, I was sold.
External
June 17, 2021

Why We Invested in BonBot

At byFounders, we are a team of enthusiastic foodies. So, when we heard about BonBot: a modular retail food concept with a mobile front-end and a robot-powered store, we knew we had to meet the talent behind it. Learning that BonBot was founded by extremely impressive King veterans made us even more intrigued.
External
March 19, 2021

Why We Invested in Digitail

"There are few things with my job that I appreciate more than when people drastically surpass all my expectations!" - Sara Rywe, Investor here at byFounders, was so impressed by the founder's tenacity, extraordinary grit and structure, she knew we absolutely needed to be part of their journey.
External
February 21, 2021

Why we invested in Proper

At byFounders, we instantly got excited about the idea of building a digital property manager that automates all manual tasks while also ensuring that the property owner and landlord feel in control. More importantly, we were captivated by the founders.
External
June 15, 2020

Why we invested in Bob W

On why we invested in Bob W - an alternative to hotels and hosted homes. By sourcing and decorating high-quality suites in curated neighborhoods, Bob W can offer the livability and affordability of short-stay homes with the consistency and sustainability at scale of a hotel, 100% digital and touchless.

Delete me when done