May 15, 2023: The startup that's making homeownership more attainable

What is Requity Homes Inc?

Requity Homes is creating a new path to homeownership in Canada via a modernized rent-to-own program.

What was the insight/reason that led you to launch this business?

Homeownership is something that’s close to my heart. I still remember having to move 7 times during my first two years in Canada. That experience just reinforced how important homeownership really is. Owning a home is so much more than just having a roof over your head. It's a place to call your own, to raise a family, and to build wealth. Yet, too many families find themselves on the outside looking in, feeling stuck renting. 

Rising home prices, stagnating wages, and tightening mortgage requirements have left many unable to achieve their homeownership dreams. About two years ago I saw the opportunity in Canada to help families who could afford the cost of a mortgage, but for whatever reason found themselves unable to get one. That’s when I decided to quit my corporate job and started Requity Homes.

How did you get your first customer?

Facebook marketplace. The first customer already bought back the home from us. Looking back, we're grateful that they took a chance with us!

Interesting metrics (number of customers, growth in the last year, etc)

3 customers already bought back the home in 10 months, 15 months, and 24 months respectively - much faster than we thought.

Who are your customers and how do you help them?

Our target customers are these aspiring home buyers who have the cash flow to afford a home but cannot qualify for a mortgage. 

Our customers usually live in secondary cities and make consistent rent payments that are higher than the cost of owning a home yet still need help to qualify for a mortgage due to being self-employed, new to the country, and having a fair credit score lacking 20% down payments.

What is your biggest victory? What setback(s) did you overcome?

3 customers already bought back the home and became proud homeowners much faster than we thought. It's such a capital-intensive business nature. 

Accessing real estate capital to help these families purchase the home upfront will always be a challenge as we grow.

Learn more about Requity Homes and the Intuit Prosperity Accelerator: Toronto here.

TechTO's Founders Journey Series gives you unparalleled access to some of today's top Founders and Leaders from across the Canadian Tech Ecosystem.

We chat with our guests about their journeys to building their current business and the lessons they learned along the way. 

On a recent episode of The Founders Journey, we spoke with the Co-Founder and CEO of PocketHealth, Rishi Nayyar.

Rishi is an Ivey Business grad, a former Investment Banker who transitioned into the healthcare space after discovering the disconnect between healthcare practitioners and their patients. From there, he and his brother launched PocketHealth.

PocketHealth is a cloud platform that allows medical imaging providers to share imaging records with patients securely and instantly. The platform has expanded its capabilities to allow sharing between hospitals and physicians, making it a comprehensive image management solution for over 500 hospital and imaging clinic customers in North America.

PocketHealth emphasizes the importance of placing patients at the center of the record release process, leading to more ethical, secure, and convenient data sharing throughout the care journey.

In today's podcast, we discuss:

• Early years

• The inspiration behind PocketHealth

• The secrets to scaling a business

• Getting your customers to sell your product for you

• The journey to 1 million patients

• The future of healthcare

• Starting a business with your sibling

• Best lessons for success

• What the future holds for PocketHealth

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts 

In this episode, we cover:

(0:00) Intro to Rishi and his early years

(1:58) The inspiration behind PocketHealth

(3:00) The fears around launching PocketHealth, and how he overcame them

(5:54) The benefits of using PocketHealth, and how it supports healthcare professionals

(9:44) Getting patients invested and signing up for PocketHealth

(13:50) Getting your customers to sell your product for you

(15:33) How has the product evolved?

(18:43) The last year at PocketHealth

(23:00) The importance of finding the right investor

(28:10) The impacts of AI on healthcare and PocketHealth

(30:53) Other trends impacting healthcare

(31:50) The future of PocketHealth and what we can expect

Where can you connect with Rishi?

Find him on LinkedIn

PocketHealth is also hiring - learn more about their open opportunities on their careers page.

Are you a Founder? McMillan wants to hook you up with some freebies. Fill out this survey to learn more and share your story

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1000+ pitch decks, all with the same mistakes. What were they?

The secrets of success from Kijiji Founder, and current Startup Investor, Janet Bannister

Product Designer, Quandri (Vancouver, BC)

Why is this cool? Every year, billions of hours are wasted on repetitive and manual work. This is work that can and should be automated, but has been overlooked. Quandri is building robots to fix this. As a Product Designer (contract role), you will work closely with their Product team to design and improve Quandri's customer-facing web application.

Data Engineering Manager, Local Logic (Remote | Montreal, QC)

Why is this cool? Local Logic is digitizing the built world to make it universally understandable and actionable for consumers, investors, developers, and governments with the ambition of helping build cities that are more sustainable and equitable for the people that live in them. In this role, you’ll be responsible for leading and managing the team responsible for building Local Logic’s next-generation data platform that is used to create location-based insights and predictions from large and diverse sources of data. 

Full Stack Developer, Private AI (Toronto, ON)

Why is this cool? Private AI has created a range of industry-leading AI solutions that make it safe to share and analyze datasets without compromising user privacy. Join the team as a Full Stack Developer and help to build, maintain and improve core features of the Private AI application and product overall. 

 *Reply to this email and let us know the jobs you'd like to see

Check out the interesting content, events, and happenings for the community here:

• TechTO: Retail | May 24, 2023: Learn from Lauren Steinberg, Amber Foucault, Drew Cashmore, Marie Chevrier, Kelly Brawn about all things technology, brands, and retail

• TechTO TechExit Social | Vancouver | May 29, 2023: Get ready to connect and meet new people in Vancouver! We're excited to be back! More announcements coming soon

• TechTO: Together | June 5, 2023: Learn from the top Founders and creators in Canadian Tech. Whatever your goals are, this event can connect you with like-minded individuals that will help you level up and reach your goals.

• TechTO x OneEleven Present: The Summer Social | June 26, 2023: Kick off summer with the season's ultimate party! Join us outdoors at The Slip for cocktails, food, and lots of networking. Last years social saw over 500 tech professionals come together to learn and grow!

• Elevate | September 26-28: Our friends at Elevate are back to unite world-class innovators and industry leaders at Canada’s Tech + Innovation Festival with up to 45% off tickets. Get the Super Early Bird offer here: ElevateFestival.ca

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