AskPorter Property Management AI Gets Google Backing

News that property management startup, AskPorter has just received backing from Google comes as no surprise. The London-based PropTech is one of the most promising machine learning and AI innovations in the space.

AskPorter allows agent users to leverage a virtual assistant to streamline workflows by automating certain tasks. Google's first international investment under its Assistant Investments Program, AskPorter is said to learn and adapt as it presents a customizable work strategy.

For tenants, the service is a 24/7 virtual customer service helper accessible via voice or text. The service, already used by some 500,000 plus properties, uses Google Cloud AI as well as Twilio communication services. With Google's investment the new startup team gets access for AskPorter to Google technical, product, and business development teams. The startup's
founder and CEO Tom Shrive commented in an email interview with Voicebot :

“Porter (the assistant) liaises with tenants and recommends next actions for the manager to help streamline and provide best practice. We actually have over 30 different chat flows from guiding people through property inspection reports, to troubleshooting boiler problems.”

Shrive's company also announced the launch of ‘Porter Pioneers’ for its first users – 15 property agencies and institutional landlords. But the company announcement did not reveal the total funding it received from Google in this round.

AskPorter was founded in 2016 by Tom Shrive and Samuel Tassell to make managing spaces simpler, and to provide every property manager with a digital personal assistant & every occupant a personal concierge. It is a portfolio company of proptech incubator Pi Labs, and backers include former LSL director David Newnes, plus ex-Dragon James Caan.