Proper, a San Francisco-based provider of automated accounting and bookkeeping services for real estate property and asset managers, has scored $9 million in Series A funding from investors.
Proper plans to use the extra funds to accelerate development of its automated accounting technology, build a new customer-facing platform, and hire strategic talent across all functions. The real estate industry has been soaring over the past year since the pandemic prompted people to move to new homes. Now a housing shortage has developed in many parts of the country and prices of homes and rents have been soaring. Buyers and sellers alike have relied heavily on technology to buy and sell their homes, and accountants and bookkeepers have been kept busy, including with the new lease accounting standard.
"The incredible demand we've seen since launch has proven that this industry is hungry for a more efficient, scalable, and cost-effective accounting solution,” said Proper CEO Mark Rojas in a statement. “With the Series A, we are doubling down on product development and scaling our business operations. This year, we're focused on developing advanced automated accounting services in addition to building out our customer-facing platform."
The latest funding, led by QED Investors, with participation from some of Proper’s existing investors, MetaProp, Expa and Bling Capital, brings the total amount raised by the company to $13.8 million. In conjunction with the funding announced Wednesday, Proper also said Matt Risley, a partner at QED, has joined the board of the company. Risley was previously CFO of Klarna, where he oversaw an accounting organization with over $1 billion in revenue. He has led investments in a number of companies across the accounting, payments and fintech industries.
"We at QED are always on the lookout for companies that can improve the overall efficiency of the economy at large, and Proper is doing precisely that by removing a tedious back office task and allowing property managers to focus on scaling their businesses," Risley said in a statement. "Proper is creating the most comprehensive accounting and bookkeeping solution for the real estate industry, and I'm confident that their approach to combining automated software and hands-on, expert service will position Proper as the category leader. QED is an ideal partner given our track record of over 150 investments that empower entrepreneurs to scale their business while focusing on the things about which they're most passionate."
The Series A round of financing will help Proper grow its team with several new hires. Last year, the staff increased from 15 employees to 92, and in the first half of 2021 has already grown to 120, with plans to end the year with approximately 200 team members.
