Property managers and realtors who need help managing requests for information can enlist a revolutionary AI-powered platform designed by Kitchener-based startup QuickCasa - launched by Conestoga alumni with support of the college’s Venture Lab.
The QuickCasa team of (left to right) Stephen McCabe, Patrick Wilken and Dayna Voisin in their exhibition booth at a summer expo, where they educated property managers about their platform.
QuickCasa harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate personalized interactions for housing providers and uses cognitive AI scoring to understand the ideal requirements of individuals reaching out about a property. This streamlines engagement and pre-qualification processes to allow for more efficient and tailored interactions with potential clients.
QuickCasa was recently featured in an article highlighting top local AI stories by the Waterloo EDC.
“There’s this huge problem of landlords not being able to get through all these leads and tenants not being able to get timely responses from inquiries and it creates this huge friction point,” said Stephen McCabe, co-founder and chief executive officer.
The QuickCasa team - including Dayna Voisin, chief product officer, and Patrick Wilken, chief technology officer - wanted to solve that problem by employing AI to field those initial leads when a person responds to a new property listing.
Numerous leads flood in every day, creating a constant challenge to respond and ask basic screening questions such as a move-in date and budget. This can take more than two or three hours a day, risking the loss of potential clients due to delays.
QuickCasa addresses this by providing an immediate, natural response at any time of day, moving beyond keyword-based chatbots to engage in real conversations. Once a lead is qualified, an agent can step in to continue the interaction.
QuickCasa is currently managing the leads for 30 buildings now, and another 45 are in the pipeline following the first market-ready version in March.
McCabe credits the guidance and expertise of their Venture Lab coach to make QuickCasa into a useful tool being readily embraced by the target market.
“Venture Lab was very powerful in helping solidify what was a fluid idea into something that you can take to a product. The support is candid, it’s frank and it’s designed to help founders move forward,” McCabe said. “Venture Lab isn’t going tell you that every idea you have is great. They’re going to help you build an idea that can grow.”
The Venture Lab helps founders with early-stage startups in any industry validate and develop their business idea over 15 weeks, and eligible companies can stay for up to one year. This universal business incubator is built on the foundation of a comprehensive roadmap, but the journey is tailored to support the unique demands of each startup and each founder.
The Venture Lab is part of the Conestoga Entrepreneurship Collective (CEC), along with the Gig Lab supporting the monetization of industry-level skills by launching a freelance business, and the Sales Lab that helps leverage an aptitude for sales to upskill and gain access to the lucrative tech sales industry.
Conestoga students and alumni are eligible to apply.
CEC director Rose Mastnak applauded the ingenuity behind QuickCasa and the unique solution offered.
“The team at QuickCasa is using AI to redefine the standard for how housing providers connect and communicate with prospective tenants,” Mastnak said. “It’s more efficient for property managers and better meets the expectations of renters today - a real win-win.”