NEXPlatform raises US$190K from Cradle's DEQ800

• Will upgrade platform and services, grow its team and expand markets
• Platform integrates property developer, agent, solicitor and banker

MALAYSIAN-based company NEXPlatform Sdn Bhd, a startup that offers a full range property-technology solutions to the real estate industry, has raised US$189,973 (RM775,000) from Cradle investment programme, Direct Equity 800 (DEQ800) led by Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle).

NEXPlatform will utilise the funding to upgrade its platform and services, grow the team and focus on market expansion to strengthen its position.

Founded in 2016, NEXPlatform was self-funded in the early stage of their startup journey, and this their first round of funds raised. It is a centralised digital platform that integrates property developer, agent, solicitor and banker in a streamlined system to facilitate the property lifecycle from pre-sales to after-sales services.

“Challenges surfaced as we move deeper into the Industry 4.0 era, and the property industry is no exception. Nowadays, real estate industry players are facing business challenges in the property sales lifecycle – due to the lack of a digital strategy to tackle the new generation's needs, inefficient lead and data management, and the limited access to critical sales and customer data. These have resulted in a prolonged sales process and higher marketing and operational costs,” said NEXPlatform co-founder Alvin Chooi.

NEXPlatform’s Smart Digital Property Management Platform aims to reshape the property industry by digitalising sales assets in the entire project lifecycle – from pre, during and after-sales services.

Lead management

“For example, previously the sales information of a housing project needs to be collected separately and manually from different parties, and it was very time consuming to slow down the sales turnaround potentially.

“The problem can be solved by the Property Lead Management Solution which enables the property marketing team to consolidate enquiries from different channels, both online and offline in a centralised platform. The leads generated will be classified and distributed to the sales team; not only to better understand the customers' needs, the built-in status tracking feature also ensures proper follow-up action in the sales process,” said Chooi.

Digital showcase

The company also introduced its Digital Property Showcase Solution, which replaces physical printouts and brochures. NEXPlatform enable clients with mobile selling capabilities - to sell anytime, anywhere with their solution, which leverages on mobile and virtual technologies, with or without offline support.

The startup’s solution digitalises sales materials with digital sharing capability, and delivers immersive virtual experience to prospects.

Other value-added solutions provided by the proptech company includes the Credit Loan Assessment, Property Rental & Accommodation Management and Smart Community Solution.

“Currently, there are hundreds of property projects listed on our platform, including big scale developers in Malaysia. Also, there are over 5,000 users with at least 30,000 property transactions having been carried out through our solution to date,” added Chooi.

According to a survey done by NEXPlatform in 2018 based on their current clients’ portfolio, the company had successfully increased the client’s leads follow-up action by 74%, reduced marketing material cost by 40% and accelerated loan turnaround time by 30%.

Cradle chief investment officer Juliana Jan, said, “The consumer world is undergoing a more dramatic transition due to the confluence of fundamental disruption forces. These forces are changing the face of the business world, and the property market is no exception. While more technologically mature industries moved away from a restricted-use model a long time ago and embraced an outsourced consumption model, the real estate industry, for the most part, has not.

“The desire to migrate from the traditional way of doing things has been sporadic at best. We believe NEXPlatform is offering the right solutions to empower the local property industry and we are excited to be part of this journey with them. As the technology continues to become more ubiquitous, you can expect home buying to never be the same again."