A proptech platform offering agents an AI-enabled lettings and property management marketplace has bought an estate agency in Essex.
Colchester-based
Gallant Richardson has 450 properties under management and a revenue of £800,000.
It has been bought by
Dwelly for an undisclosed sum and was founded in 1993 by John Gallant and Mark Richardson, both of whom had many years’ experience in the industry before that running local firm Sheen & Richardson, but who sold out to Andy Wade several years ago.
Gallant Richardson is a leading local specialist in the sales, property management, and lettings market but is not the first acquisition by Dwelly, which in September bought Hull firm Lime, which has 1,000 properties under management.
Launched earlier this year, Dwelly is taking an unusual approach to getting its tech used within the lettings industry by acquiring estate agencies, backed by big-name investors. Dwelly wants to ‘technologically empower’ independently-run letting agencies while preserving their brand and legacy, the company says.
“This acquisition is another step towards revolutionizing the real estate sector, helping traditional agencies to overcome their inefficiencies through intelligent automation,” said Ilya Drozdov, CEO and co-founder of Dwelly.
“Following our previous buy-out of
Lime, where we already reduced time to rent by 80%, we aim to empower other agencies with similar tools that allow them to focus on growth while we handle the complexities of operations with seamless and systemic AI integration”.
Wade says: “Earlier this year I started thinking about my eventual retirement. I wanted to find a way to allow me to do this whilst also allowing the business to continue.
“Dwelly invests in existing independent agencies with those businesses continuing under their current names and operating from their current premises with their current teams.
“I’m happy that all Gallant Richardson clients will continue to receive the service they are used to with further investment into the business.”
Dwelly was founded by Drozdov (pictured, middle) along with Dan Lifshits (left), and Dmitry Khanukov (right), who between them have track record from previous tech-enabled lettings platforms (outside the UK) but also senior jobs at Uber, McKinsey, and black cab hire platform Gett.
They recently hired Paul Jardine, whose career has included M&A director at LSL and COO at Purplebricks.
