AssetOwl reports steady progress on customer trials and growth of Pirsee platform

West Australian property management technology provider AssetOwl (ASX: AO1) has had a busy start to the year, with steady progress being made on customer trials, product development and a capital raising.

In a shareholder update this morning, chief executive officer Geoff Goldsmith said the first four months of the calendar year had seen the conclusion of a number of trials, which has led to a growth in paying customer numbers.

At the end of April, AssetOwl had 13 paying customers generating monthly revenue, with an additional 27 customers on trial.

Pirsee success rate

Based on trials completed during the initial 15 months of commercialisation, the Pirsee property inspection platform has a current trial success rate of approximately 60%.

Mr Goldsmith said it represented a positive result, which is anticipated to improve during the remainder of the year.

“The targeted success rate for newer trial customers is expected to climb to 80%,” he told shareholders.

“This reflects improvements to the platform as customer feedback is incorporated into Pirsee, along with an increase in inbound leads as the business builds its brand awareness within the industry.”

Customer retention

Mr Goldsmith said the Pirsee customer retention metric was also expected to gain an increasing level of importance.

“While our company is only 15 months into its commercial phase, it is pleasing to note that a 100% retention rate and we intend to report regularly on retention as our paying customer base grows,” he said.

With 37 WA agencies on the platform, the number of contracted customers on Pirsee have an estimated 15,420 properties under management.

Pirsee’s share of professionally-managed WA properties remains at approximately 10%.

Product development

In recent months, AssetOwl’s product team has been working on new platform features and upgrades including routine inspection functionality and the integration of the PropertyTree and PropertyMe software tools.

It is also finalising a ‘mobile synchronisation protocol’ which will allow multiple users to work on an inspection at the same time.

“The upgrade to this feature has been the main focus for our development team for the last three months, and is an enormously significant platform upgrade,” Mr Goldsmith said.

“Once complete, this change will materially improve user experience, and improve the speed of the app in the field.”

The mobile sync protocol is scheduled for release before month end.

Capital raising

In January, AssetOwl staged a $2.26 million capital raising via a non-renounceable rights issue and share placement to sophisticated and professional investors.

The exercise has positioned the company to progress expansion plans along Australia’s eastern seaboard and recruitment has commenced for a number of key personnel to head up the proposed Melbourne-based operation.

This includes a head of product role, which will provide critical support as it expands its national reach, and will be responsible for driving improvements in customer experience and generating new ideas to fuel a growth in market share.

“As we organically develop our national footprint, we plan to explore opportunities to accelerate our scale gains through potentially complementary acquisitions in the property industry,” Mr Goldsmith said.