Antler Investor Memo Series: PropCode takes the heavy lifting out of property development analysis

Early stage investment company Antler Australia recently backed a new cohort of startups as part of its ongoing program to build great local tech companies.

Startup Daily is sharing the details of each venture in the “Antler Investor Memos” series, which is designed to give you a quick,  sharp understanding of the startups and people involved, with many seeking follow up capital following Antler’s initial pre-seed investment. 

Company: PropCode

Formation date: 2022

Stage of business: Pre-Seed

Founders: Will Sullivan and Jonah Turnquist

Current investors: Antler

Currently raising: Yes

The business

Property regulation in Australia is complex with tens of thousands of regulations in each state and territory, spanning residential, commercial, and major infrastructure projects. To make sense of each regulation, understand how it relates to individual projects, and ensure that each project undertaken is compliant, can be a time consuming and resource-heavy undertaking. 

Proptech startup, PropCode, provides automated, transparent, and trustworthy regulatory analysis for property development. The all-in-one platform analyses thousands of property regulations and geo-spatial datasets to save construction companies, property consultants, and homeowners, time and money. 

PropCode’s launch product, released earlier this year, services property in New South Wales, taking the heavy lifting and cost out of understanding each property’s Complying Development Certificate (CDC) potential. In turn, it provides instant, in-depth reports outlining relevant regulations and rules for each location. This is the first product launched on the platform with a national rollout and a suite of features to be released.

Antler investment thesis

“Founded by an urban planning consultant, Will Sullivan, and former Atlassian software engineer, Jonah Turnquist, PropCode fuses a detailed regulatory understanding with automation and insight  to solve a clear  pain point,” said Cath Rogers, Partner at Antler Australia.

“PropCode’s launch product demonstrates the power of the platform to automate the analysis of thousands of regulations and complex datasets, providing immediate benefit to users.” 

Traction/ milestones, to date

Within months of receiving Antler Australia’s investment, PropCode launched its product in New South Wales with plans to expand nationally over time. One foundational user, The Sydney Architect Group, has said; “PropCode is a great innovative platform that instantly tells potential designers, builders or home owners a site’s potential when it comes to CDC applications. We use it on a regular basis, as it is easy to use and our clients love it.”

Beyond user growth, PropCode has launched an integration with Stash Property, an online research platform with thousands of high-value users from across the property industry. 

Latest funding

Pre-Seed from Antler

Use of funds

Antler Australia’s initial investment has supported PropCode to launch its product into market generating property reports and to grow its user base. The proptech startup has grown its headcount including adding a senior software engineer and adding operational support.. 

This initial traction laid the groundwork for ongoing product development and market expansion and validated PropCode’s current fundraising. 

Founders say:

“Urban planning regulations exist nearly everywhere, the opportunity is global,” said Will Sullivan.

“The process of analysing property regulation in Australia alone is deeply complex, draining time, money and resources. We know how transformative PropCode can be.

“Once we flesh out our technology to accurately translate written rules into our analysis engine, we will aim to quickly onboard new jurisdictions. This will be both our enabler and competitive moat – scalable technology that prioritises accuracy, shaped by our team’s unique merged perspective from consultancy and software backgrounds.

“As a planning consultant, I know first hand how complex  property regulations are and the importance of accurate information. At PropCode, our singular, AI powered mission is to synthesise thousands of regulations and enormous spatial datasets to deliver accurate insights for the user in seconds.

“We aim for the property industry, in the not-too-distant future, to regard PropCode as an automatic inclusion in their workflow because it’s both necessary and easy. We expect some property businesses and professionals will set up whole new workflows and tap into new opportunities because of quick access to regulatory answers in PropCode. It’s also our intention to work with governments to prepare an open standard for a future where regulations are published in computer-consumable form.

“Antler’s initial investment, alongside its support in facilitating  connections and investor introductions, has been invaluable. The community among fellow portfolio company founders, both locally and globally, has been incredibly helpful and we can’t imagine trying to start a company outside such a community of peers.”

What’s next?

Antler, a global early-stage VC, is revealing its latest investments in ambitious Australian founders and startups. With over 100 investments in early-stage companies, PropCode is one of its most recent portfolio companies.