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Investorist [SMART 100, 2015]

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This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.

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1. THE BEGINNING

This innovation initially came to life when…

Thirty-year-old Jon Ellis thought he could transform a $50-billion-a-year old-fashioned industry. Off-the-plan property accounts for over one-quarter of all Australian residential property sales. These sales are different to existing property sales; they are typically sold as investments, often cross-boarder and usually sourced for the consumer by an intermediary business (an advisor). These sales occur prior to advertisements appearing in newspapers or consumer portals.

In a small warehouse this bootstrapped team built Investorist, the world’s first business-to-business off-the-plan property portal and sophisticated software that manages these complex transactions. Investorist has now gone global.

2. WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

…facilitate off-the-plan sales making the industry more efficient and transparent. Investorist generates networking that has never before occurred in the industry and uses sophisticated software to manage complex transactions from information dissemination, through to contract exchange and property settlement.

It does this by…

…providing property professionals secure access to the world’s largest aggregation of off-the-plan property currently for sale and the most comprehensive development information in one central location. Investorist also provides live price lists with instant, online reservations and contract management tools. Investorist’s software solutions allow businesses to truly embed the technology into their day-to-day operations.

3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

…prior to Investorist, developers and agents relied on emails, spreadsheets, generic file-sharing software or stand-alone company portals to share information. This was time-consuming, cumbersome and resulted in duplicate property sales. There was no central location for all the off-the-plan property available, making the estate agents’ and advisors’ job difficult when finding the right property for their clients.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

Investorist’s software makes sales more streamlined and transparent. Properties are sold more efficiently with the ability to search, compare and instantly reserve online. Sales are tracked from reservation to settlement. Last month $500 million in property was transacted through Investorist.

4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

…web development and CRM companies building stand-alone portals. However, the problem with this approach is that these portals don’t synchronise with each other, requiring agents and advisors to log into many different websites to find the information they need. Duplicate sales continued and the agents’ and advisors’ job was made increasingly more difficult.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

…no one. Investorist is the world’s first business-to-business off-the-plan property portal and integrated software solution.

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5. TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

…businesses engaged in the development and sales of off-the-plan property. It is not consumer-facing. Listing on Investorist are Australia’s and now the UK’s leading developers and real estate agents; they are selling units within new apartment projects or new houses within land developments. Since launch 18 months ago over $15 billion worth of property has been listed on Investorist. Accessing property on Investorist are over 3,000 (and growing) global real estate agents, financial planners, migration agents and advisors that are searching for investment properties for their clients. Both parties are using Investorist software in their businesses.

It is available for sale through…

…the Investorist.com website. We have three offices in Australia and in less than 18 months have expanded into the UK, China and throughout Southeast Asia, the company is planning expansion to another four countries within the next 12 months.

Our marketing strategy is to…

…use an extensive marketing toolkit to connect, engage, retain members and encourage referrals. We publish regular thought leadership papers and host hybrid events, an industry first. We have sales and marketing teams working from six offices in each country of operation. Investorist has been featured in The Australian, AFR, SMH, Age, 2UE and the 7.30 Report amongst others.

FINE PRINT: This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.