Welsh proptech start-up shines at Web Summit

Properr, an estate agency software start-up based in Cardiff, has been named the fifth most promising tech company at Web Summit 2016.

The technology conference, which is an annual occurrence, took place at the start of the month and lasted a few days. It attracted delegates from all over the world.

Founded by Owen Derbyshire, Properr was invited to take place in the event’s ‘Alpha’ program, which aimed to showcase some of the world’s best start-up firms.

It was an opportunity for the companies to meet potential customers, investors and other stakeholders. Delegates were able to book short meetings with companies too.

More than 1,500 companies and entrepreneurs attended the summit, and but only 50 were given the coveted honour of being named a promising start-up by Web Summit.

Owen Derbyshire, founder and CEO of the firm, told Tech Dragons that events like Web Summit can often be unpredictable but there are a ton of benefits.

“We were asked to exhibit as part of WebSummit’s ‘Alpha’ program after one of our advisory panel members passed on our name to the organisers,” he said.

“We were pretty busy with product development at the time, so we were actually in two minds about whether it would be worth attending, but looking back now I’m delighted that we decided to go.”

“You never really know what to expect with this sort of event, but having that many start-up founders, investors and corporate partners (over 50,000!) in one space really makes for an incredible atmosphere.”

Owen said there was never a moment when an investor wouldn’t be showing interest in his company, and he’s confident that it has a bright future ahead.

“The reception we got there was astounding, and we were barely out of investor meetings for the first 2.5 days. Our stand was packed at all times, helped by the fact we made it on to that list, I suppose,” he said.

“For us, the week has helped us validate what we have always believed. There’s a huge opportunity that lies within proptech, and I think the business model we’ve got makes for an interesting proposition.

“Investors from around the world are now really looking at the space, so it’s an exciting time for us, and I’m excited to see what the future has to offer.”

Steve Talbot, chief technology officer of Properr, said: “The experience at Websummit was fantastic.  Although we had an exhibition stand, we barely had time to be there, as we had so much interest from investors requesting meetings with us.

“It’s both encouraging and humbling to get this kind of validation of our business at such an early stage, and it was also incredibly useful that several major software providers had a presence at Websummit.”