Raising NOK 5 million with successful entrepreneurs on the team
“Our biggest advantage is that we are innovative minds who have developed this at the request of established industry players. Thus, we solve real problems, but in our own way,” says Ole Ekern (20), one of three entrepreneurs in Eiendomsappen.
Together with the 20-year-olds Steinar Halvari Seim and Kristoffer Moe Lundquist, he has developed an app from the boys' rooms when they were in high school. Eiendomsappen claims to be a full-fledged system that should make it easy to manage property. The founders started the company as 18-year-olds, and have an office in Wergelandsveien 3 in Oslo, with the castle as a neighbour.
— Takes care of time-consuming tasks
Eiendomsappen delivers software to the real estate industry with an emphasis on communication between users of buildings. The company developed the first version of the app in close collaboration with real estate companies.
“They had a need to improve the follow-up of their tenants and to simplify the processes surrounding the operation of the properties,” says Ekern.
“Get a full overview of your buildings and get steel checks on deviations using the Eiendomsappen”, advertises the company.
“We have taken on the task of creating a simple tool that takes care of the most time-consuming tasks, which we believe should make property management more enjoyable,” says Ekern.
Priced at 12 million
Earlier this year, the Eiendomsappen entrepreneurs joined two successful entrepreneurs on the team:
- Bjørn Tore Hagberg, who founded SmartDok, one of the largest systems in the entrepreneurial industry. He has partly sold out to Visma, which now owns 60 per cent.
- Kris Riise, who has built up Unloc. The valuation of the entrepreneurial company jumped from NOK 40 to 120 million in less than a year.
— We is pleased to have attracted investors with so much experience and knowledge. The combination is great,” says Ekern.
“Entrepreneurs are concerned with making everyday life easier for customers. At the same time, they are responsive to input, and have a high work ethic. It's a rare combination,” Kris Riise says.
Hagberg and Riise both came in on a valuation of the company as of January of roughly NOK 12 million.
Should fetch 5 million
The company will now raise around NOK 5 million in growth capital to be in place by the end of March 2021.
In this round, the entrepreneurs are looking for investors who can contribute to increased distribution power and help position the company both in and outside Norway.
“We are experiencing a lot of interest from investors and would have no problem carrying out a faster and earlier issue. On the other hand, what we are very keen on is finding long-term and strategic partners who do not only contribute capital. The valuation will be a few multiples above the previous valuation. After that, we are aiming to double the size of the team next year,” says Ekern.
The company had minus NOK 0.4 million in profit last year, and is set to end at minus 1 million this year.
“In 2020, the company's focus has been on further developing the platform based on feedback from our first users and customers. Turnover will be modest, but based on the feedback we have received from the market, and with the employment of yet another commercial asset around the corner, we are aiming for NOK 5 million in revenue in 2021, says Ekern.