PropTech startup Willow debuted its real estate investing platform, January 31, offering Canadians the chance to buy and sell fractions of property much like shares on the stock market. The startup calls its business model PropSharing.
Willow came out of stealth mode after three years, and claims it is the first and only real estate investing startup to have received Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) approval to operate as an exempt market dealer.
According to the OSC, the exempt market is a section of Canada’s capital markets where securities may be sold without the protections associated with a prospectus. The general rule under Ontario securities law is that any security offered to the public must be offered under a prospectus.
However, prospectus exemptions save companies the time and expense of preparing a prospectus.
“We believe property investment should be inclusive to all. PropSharing will offer all Canadians a unique opportunity to invest in the real estate market.”
A national registration search on the Canadian Securities Administrators’ website in fact shows that Willow Ret Financial Services Inc. has registered as an exempt market dealer in every province and territory.
Willow’s platform will include what the startup claims are handpicked, stable, rent-generating properties from across the country. These commercial and industrial properties, along with multiplexes, are split into 100,000 units of “ownership,” which are available for purchase through the platform.
Willow says it takes care of the property management and the administrative work associated with its real estate.
“With real estate prices continuing to skyrocket across the country, investing in property is becoming further out of reach for most Canadians,” said Logan Yergens, CEO and co-founder of Willow. “We believe property investment should be inclusive to all. PropSharing will offer all Canadians a unique opportunity to invest in the real estate market.”
The startup claims it has a pre-launch waitlist of 10,000 people.
Willow invests in the properties as well as manages them, something it claims makes it different from other platforms in the market. Willow said it will continue to expand its property portfolio over time.
According to Yergens the startup has gone through three rounds of funding, with a fourth on the verge of closing, raising a total of $5 million. Yergens said investors in the rounds have included Montreal’s Harden family, who run a real estate development company, Starlight Investments, and “other real estate and financial services heavyweights.”
Willow currently has two properties.
Yergens said they “prefund the acquisition of those properties.” He said Willow signs a purchase and sale agreement and “tie it up is the term, so we have 75, 90, 120 days, whatever it is, where that property is agreed to be sold to us.”
In order to purchase further properties, the startup will have to wait until people begin investing in their concept. Once they’ve raised enough money, Willow plans to close on what it describes as a “backlog” of properties.
“As we onboard users and have that demand there, then we can very quickly scale up,” Yergens said.
In order to invest, customers go to Willow’s website, and create a financial profile on which Willow makes a recommendation as to how much they can invest. Customers answer a lot of questions on such things as their investment experience and “risk appetite,” and they must provide a breakdown of their assets and liabilities. The most any investor can own in an individual property is 10 percent.
The FinTech startup Flinks is used in the back end to connect customers’ bank accounts to Willow. Willow purchases the service from Flinks.
Willow has three co-founders. Yergens has worked as a director of investor relations and corporate development for the blockchain startup, Aion Networks, and in equity research and portfolio management.
Willow’s platform will include what the startup claims are handpicked, stable, rent-generating properties from across the country.
Yergens said he wanted to get an idea of where the technology was going, which is why he worked at Aion. “There, the idea of fractionalized everything, whether it’s art, collectable cards, sports memorabilia – the idea of real estate I thought was pretty interesting,” noted. “There are some inherent flaws in real estate, such a large ticket size, that makes it exclusive to only the top one percent of Canadians in the case of commercial real estate, which is what we’re investing in.
Mike Hibberd, the startup’s co-founder, chief compliance officer and COO, previously worked as a COO for a Toronto fashion brand, while co-founder and CTO Ray Johannsson has worked in software development and system design for early stage startups as well as for Dell and IBM.
Including the founders, Willow has a staff of 12.
Willow joins an already burgeoning PropTech space in Canada. According to a 2021 report, out of 300 startups surveyed, approximately 60 percent are in the early stages of their growth. Sixty-seven percent of proptech startups in Canada were founded after 2014, and of the startups studied, 59 percent are at the pre-seed, angel, or seed stage of their growth.
Nor are they the only PropTech startup offering fractional shares in real estate. FinTech startup BuyProperly also deals in fractional real estate.
But the competition doesn’t phase Yergens. “We’re pioneering what we’re offering,” he said. “We don’t worry about the competition.”
In the long term, Willow hopes to be able to offer fractional investments in other types of properties including solar wind farms, heritage properties, and affordable housing developments.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
