Bypassing brokers: Realiste's AI engine makes real estate investing smarter and easier
Founded in Moscow, AI-based Realiste expanded its base to the Middle East and North Africa region to tap into the growing proptech market.
Alex Igumnov-Galtsev has always been passionate about real estate and has dreamt of being the richest and the most successful realtor in Moscow. However, when he tried to move his offline real estate business online, he realised that the entire sector needed a digital upgrade.
In 2018, he founded Realiste in Moscow with his friend, Anton Baronov. The proptech platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify investing in real estate by doing away with the jargon used in the market for first-time investors.
The aim is to reduce the dependency on agents and brokers while investing in real estate.
The startup strives to provide users with accurate and timely information about the real estate market in different cities. It is available both as a web-based platform and a mobile application.
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First steps
When Alex failed to land a job at a popular real estate firm, he decided to launch his own business in 2018 in Russia.
“My first buyers were my roommates in college. Then I brought them on board and we started making a lot of money by offering brokerage services to our college mates. We were just a bunch of college students who were desperate to make money,” Co-founder and CEO Alex recalls.
He invested the earnings in online real estate but shifting from an offline business to the digital realm was loss-making. So, he searched for a tech co-founder on Facebook to help him with the transition.
“I pitched the idea of a platform that simplifies the process of real estate investing. That’s when Anton reached out,” he says.
At that time, Anton was working on another undisclosed software project. He and his team brought in the technical know-how to develop the software.
“When I described the idea to Anton, I remember him saying that it was brilliant but quite impossible. It took us 150 days of iterations after iterations in the same cafe from 10 AM to 1 AM. It was the 1,115th attempt when our software started to work,” Alex recalls.
The 55-member team expanded operations to the Middle East in May 2022. Today, Realiste has established operations in Dubai, Riyadh, Moscow, London, and New York.
“The idea was to wake up in the morning, look at all the countries in the world, and understand in seconds which city, or, residential area, or apartment is ripe for investing right now based on data and projections. For example, to invest in Dubai, you don't need to visit Dubai. Just find the property on the system for free, click booking and done! It's just like booking a hotel,” he says.
Realiste Platform
How does it work
Realiste’s AI engine relies on a constant stream of information about residential apartments sourced from websites, listings, government sources, and other avenues.
The platform runs on a freemium model. There are two subscriptions on offer for those looking to invest in real estate professionally—Magic Pro and Magic VIP.
The former costs $100 per month and gives users access to apartments at a discount of 7-12% of the market price, along with a personal bot helper. Magic VIP subscription gives access to apartments at a discount of 12-25% of the market price, along with giving market insights and personal VIP services.
Apart from freemium model, real estate developers also pay an undisclosed commission to Realiste to get themselves featured or listed on the platform.
As per the website, the company analyses more than 845,000 properties across the cities where they operate.
Operating in the Middle East
According to Future Market Insights, the global proptech market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 16.8% during 2022-2032—from $18.2 billion in 2022 to $86.5 billion in 2032.
However, the market presents its own set of challenges. Alex feels that the real challenge for founders is building the required network and assimilating themselves with society.
“Founders who are new in the region should highly focus on networking. When we landed in Dubai in May 2022, our goal was to hold 300 meetings with the top bank managers as well as real estate developers and investors. We caught the attention at least of 15 people and they started helping us build further connections,” Alex adds.
However, he feels that the region is very supportive of startups and businesses.
“Realiste operates from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and it is a special zone for startups to play around and experiment. One can test any idea for a global market right here and meet global investors,” he says.
The MENA branch of Realiste is headed by Anastasia Denisova as its CEO, and was one of its first employees in Moscow. Her primary responsibility now is to expand the company’s base in the MENA region, starting from Dubai.
Realiste has earned $5 million in revenues, globally. In December 2022, Alex added that in Dubai alone, the revenue is expected to cross $1 million.
Realiste competes with Dealtors, Square Yards, Overwrite, and Stake.
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Future plans
Realiste is working on expanding its base in 30 cities across the world. They also plan to achieve a valuation of $300 million to $400 million.
Edited by Kanishk Singh