New Zealand AI company ListAssist has been selected to compete in the Innovation, Opportunity & Investment Summit’s Pitch Battle in Miami next week.
The company, which launched in Auckland in mid-2022, started off creating automated property listing descriptions for real estate agents and has since released a range of computer vision solutions and HomeSearch, which aims to serve buyers criteria matched properties and streamlined, qualified leads to agents.
ListAssist Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Chris McGoldrick said List Assist is one of 12 finalists and they will have just four minutes to pitch about the company, its services and how it will improve the real estate industry.
A rapid-fire question-and-answer session from a panel of judges will follow.
“From what we understand, we’re the youngest company in there,” Mr McGoldrick said.
“And we know for certain we’re the only one from New Zealand.”
The National Association of Realtor’s (NAR) venture capital arm, Second Century Ventures (SCV), will present the pitch battle competition on August 29.
NAR Chief Executive Officer and SCV President Bob Goldberg said the pitch battle was finding PropTech solutions to empower agents.
“The iOi Summit is about discovering the next big thing in real estate tech as we continue working to foster a culture of innovation and inclusivity,” he said.
“We are thrilled to see how the next generation of outstanding tech companies will leverage this platform to present their innovations.”
The winner of the pitch battle receives US$15,000, feature magazine articles in RISMedia and REALTOR Magazine, a meeting with an SCV executive and a live demonstration from the theatre in the NAR Booth at NAR NXT 2024.
ListAssist competing in the pitch battle comes just a month after announcing a multi-year partnership with TheMLS.com to provide AI image tagging, compliance, image descriptions and property listing descriptions to its 18,000 agents.
The computer vision, that understanding of photos, has led to this Beverly Hills deal recently,” Mr McGoldrick said.
“So that’s with TheMLS in Beverly Hills, that’s of the Selling Sunset people and whenever they upload a listing, we tag and process all of their images, do image tagging, compliance and image captions as well.
“Then that led to our HomeSearch product.”
Mr McGoldrick said in the current climate there was a big push from agencies to try and enhance the customer experience but also discover ways to connect with potential buyers faster and on a deeper level.
He said HomeSearch could not only provide agents leads on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms buyers were looking for but styling preferences such as red walls, or lifestyle requirements such as big backyards for the dogs.
“The coolest agent feedback so far has been so many of them saying how much quicker they’re able to create a connection with clients because they know so much more about what they’re looking for,” he said.
At the announcement of the Beverly Hills deal, TheMLS.com CEO Annie Ives said, “we’re really excited to be working with Chris and the ListAssist team”.
“Their AI solutions are revolutionising our industry and it’s great to be providing these market leading offerings to our agents.”
Mr McGoldrick said ListAssist was looking to grow in the US market and also had a lens looking to Australia.
“We’re trying to be very deliberate about how we’re building the company and not getting over our skis, especially in the venture capital climate,” he said.
