Real estate tokenization specialist Propy has unveiled plans for a $100 million expansion to acquire mid-sized title firms in the US, aiming to streamline an industry that still relies heavily on manual processes with blockchain rails and artificial intelligence (AI).
“In the next 12 months, we will acquire regional title companies across the country,” Propy CEO Natalia Karayaneva told Coindesk in an interview. “This will allow us to reach a billion-dollar valuation as a technology company.”
To raise funds for the rollups, Propy has turned to a mix of traditional and on-chain lenders, including decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Morpho. Propy said it is one of the first known examples of raising private on-chain credit to finance M&A activities.
The expansion plans come at a time when interest is growing in real estate tokenization, an effort to digitize property rights and streamline transactions through blockchain to gain efficiency. Title companies focus on verifying the ownership history of a property and ensuring there are no legal claims, liens or disputes that could affect the sale. They also issue title insurance and manage the transfer of legal ownership during real estate transactions.
It is a $25 billion market that remains largely paper-based and divided among nearly 7,000 companies, many of them small mom-and-pop shops, Propy CEO Natalia Karayaneva told Coindesk in an interview.
Propy itself is a licensed title company and has processed $4 billion in digital real estate transactions by automating time-consuming processes with AI. By acquiring mid-sized title companies in states such as California, Florida and Texas, the company plans to streamline operations, reduce fraud and accelerate transaction closing times using blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, he added.
Central to Propy’s efforts is Agent Avery, an artificial intelligence custody agent created to address the inefficiencies that consume the majority of a custody officer’s time, the firm said.
Agent Avery has been trained on Propy transaction data and operates 24/7, supporting traditional and crypto payments. The tool can save about 40% of workload, the company estimated, allowing agents to close more deals.
Along with expanding and developing AI, Propy also added former US Treasury official Chris Campbell and Science Inc. co-founder Mike Jones to its advisory board, joining previous appointees including former SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar.
