Accelerate Fund III invests in technology that personalizes online shopping for home buyers, giving demand data to home builders

Calgary, AB, August 17, 2021 – Accelerate Fund III today announced its investment into OpenHouse.ai, a Calgary startup that’s developing personalized online shopping technology for the home building industry – a $300B+ market in the US alone. The software is easy for home builders to add to their existing websites and uses artificial intelligence to make recommendations to buyers, convert sales faster, and gain data on types of homes in demand by community and buyer segment. 

“We are in an era of empowered consumers where buyers want to explore options online and have a personalized experience that adapts to their actions,” said Will Zhang, Co-Founder, and CEO at OpenHouse.ai. “Traditionally, real estate developers have seen building an AI-driven recommendation engine for home buyers as out of reach given capital investment and R&D costs. OpenHouse.ai changes that, providing affordable, easy-to-implement technology that not only improves sales performance but provides insight into what to build next for profitability.” 

When integrated into a home builder’s website, OpenHouse.ai learns the shopper’s preferences in a few clicks and immediately personalizes and recommends the homes best suited to their needs. Improving online engagement has helped OpenHouse.ai home builder customers to accelerate their sales velocity by 15 per cent on average. The technology provides high-quality data for builders including insight on the types of homes that are appealing to buyers segmented by demographic and geolocation. By leveraging this data, home builders can confidently build what the market is looking for in different communities.

“For many people, buying a home is the largest investment they’ll make yet home shopping has lacked a recommendation engine like we’re all used to from Netflix or Amazon,” commented Yasmine Al-Hussein, Investment Analyst, Accelerate Fund. “Will’s team is applying their AI experience from industries that have big data and major budgets to develop technology that works for smaller businesses like home builders.”

“We’re excited at the great traction OpenHouse.ai has generated with North American customers,” said Arden Tse, Investment Manager, Accelerate Fund. “The real estate and construction industries can be resistant to technology and OpenHouse.ai has found a way to break through. We see many future opportunities to expand their platform and offer it to other industries with similar needs.”

Openhouse.ai will use proceeds from the Accelerate Fund III investment to continue to expand their customer acquisition efforts in the US market and further develop their technology to better serve the product and construction planning needs of their customers.

About Openhouse.ai

OpenHouse.ai has built a revolutionary Builder Intelligence Platform that is transforming the new home construction industry. By leveraging a home builder’s website data and online engagement, OpenHouse.ai unlocks powerful insights into a potential buyer’s preferences and demands.  

The AI-powered solution seamlessly bolts onto a home builder’s existing website and understands what a buyer is looking for in a home. This data provides accurate insight into a builder’s local market, so they can optimize community planning and design, maintain an optimal mix of floor plans, and de-risk their inventory programs. Using OpenHouse.ai, home builders can confidently build the right product for the right buyers, every time. www.openhouse.ai 

About Accelerate Fund III  

Accelerate Fund III is an early-stage angel co-investment fund in Alberta. We co-invest alongside angel investors in financing rounds and will typically invest up to $500,000 on the same terms and conditions as private investors. We work with formal angel groups, super-angels, family funds, and individual angel investors. Accelerate Fund III invests in private, early-stage Alberta companies in knowledge-based industries including: information and communications technology, energy technology, as well as life sciences, including agriculture and biotech. Accelerate Fund III is managed by Yaletown Partners with the support of The A100. Alberta Enterprise Corporation is Accelerate Fund III’s lead Limited Partner. www.acceleratefund.ca

Media Inquiries:

Accelerate Fund III
Claudia Moore
Material Insight
403.703.0029
Claudia @ materialinsight.com

Openhouse.ai

Stephanie Baron
Marketing Associate
sbaron @ openhouse.ai