Cypriot AI startup raises €1 million in pre-seed funding

Cypriot startup Placy has secured €1 million in pre-seed funding, according to an announcement released on Tuesday.

The company provides an AI-powered virtual companion that aims to reshape how real estate is bought and sold.

Placy was created to take on a number of routine tasks, including valuations, research, scheduling viewings, and drafting agreements, among others. This enables real estate professionals to focus on making sales.

Placy was founded 10 months ago in Limassol by former colleagues from CIAN (a top-10 global property portal, a NYSE unicorn of 2021) and Wargaming.

The company has explained that “Cyprus is a pilot market, with plans to expand into Greece, the UAE, and the UK”.

Viktar Dzenisevich, Investment Director and Partner at Zubr Capital, drew attention to the rationale behind the investment.

“As a leading funding source, we prefer to focus on the team behind a project first. With Placy, we found a successful group of professionals with a history of project achievement,” Dzenisevich said.

“This history is precisely why we think the new startup Placy will be no exception”, he added.

The company has previously explained that the real estate industry has long struggled with inefficient processes and overwhelming amounts of data that complicate rather than simplify.

Consequently, it has turned to AI technology in order to change this, offering a streamlined and more effective approach to property transactions.

Mike Vasiliev, CEO of Placy, emphasised the urgency of adopting AI tools, stating that “the main challenge in real estate today is how to double productivity before competitors do”.

“Automation is crucial for survival and growth,” the Placy CEO added.

When originally launched, the company said that “Cyprus presents a unique opportunity for Placy.”

It added that “with an open market, enthusiastic community, and high commission rates, the country is an ideal launchpad for this innovative solution”.

Regarding co-founder Sergey Osipov, the company has said that “having lived in Cyprus for nine years, Sergey Osipov brings invaluable local market knowledge and insights that can expedite the project’s launch and adoption”.

“The time for property portals is over. The next decade is all about AI co-pilots,” said Vasiliev.

Alexeev, meanwhile, said that “real estate agencies won’t fire half of their agents because of AI”.

“They will, however, solve twice as many problems with the same team, handling twice as many foreign clients, who speak different languages, from different time zones,” he added.

He also said that “smart agencies will even hire more people“.

Sotiris Komodromos, Placy’s Chief Commercial Officer, further explained the transformative potential of AI in real estate.

“When people ask if AI will replace real estate agents, I tell them that we’re not here for optimisation; we’re here for growth,” he said.

“Our tools are for the smart pros who want to double their sales with a fraction of the effort,” he added.

Beyond automation, Placy also digs deep into property listings, state registries, and social media to fetch comprehensive, personalised information.

Komodromos explained that “the objective is to automate 50 per cent of the real estate agent’s tasks at 25 per cent of the cost, safeguarding the profession while creating the instruments for the realtor of the future”.

Meanwhile, Zubr Capital, the private equity firm behind the investment in Placy, said that this infusion of financial resources has two goals.

“First, Zubr’s funds will seek to improve Placy Pro, a white-label SaaS tool focused on B2B AI integrations, to increase its use with agencies and agents needing a branded automation tool,” the firm said.

“The second pathway Zubr’s capital will help is through improving the primary features of Placy, which allow seamless integration into WhatsApp and Telegram for landlords, sellers, and buyers,” it added.

It explained that “this will primarily be through further insight into R&D for Placy Assistant,” noting that this B2C solution “makes client-to-professional communication much easier in the short and long terms”.

It should be noted that Zubr Capital is generally focused on taking new IT companies and expanding their capabilities to international markets.

The fund has also supported other successful companies like Palta, a health & well-being technology company, and MediaCube, a fintech company for creators.

“Zubr Capital is proud to have worked with the development and startup team behind Placy for a long time,” the firm stated.

“That previous record of successful performance, specifically in this field, is what makes the startup launch so attractive,” it added.

It also noted that “public support for Placy is also at an all-time high due to previous awards for Startup of the Year in Cyprus and joining the US Microsoft Startup Hub“.

Zubr Capital further stated that “real estate investing requires many steps and streamlined operations to ensure all parties receive the care and professional advice necessary for decision-making”.

“Placy is the perfect tool for improving this system so that everyone, from the home seller to the multi-agent real estate business, can reach new levels of success,” the firm concluded.