Tour24, a virtual self-guided housing tour proptech, today announced appointing Satish Janumpalli as its chief technology officer and Joanna Hackney as its chief operating officer, according to a press release.
The statement also refers to Janumpalli as a “veteran technologist” in the multifamily industry, with 15 years of experience in technology innovation and product design. He held leadership positions in engineering and product development during an eight-year span at RealPage, Inc., and most recently Interior Logic Group.
Hackney’s professional career in the property industry has spanned 25 years across companies like Client Success, RealPage, Alliance Residential Company and Campus Advantage, among others.
“We are excited to expand our leadership team with industry veterans with impressive track records of success, and the addition of key new customers is a validation of our approach and our ability to execute,” said Georgianna W. Oliver, founder and CEO of Tour24, in the release.
Virtual tour expansion efforts
To compete with the demands of the rental market, Tour24 is trying to expand its user base, which includes: Toll Brothers, a FORTUNE 500 builder and seller of residential and commercial properties; Invesco, an investment management firm; and RangeWater Real Estate, a traditionally multifamily-focused build-to-rent investment company (which is also starting to enter into the SFR market)
Carl Walton, senior director of innovation and design at RangeWater explained that scheduling and managing tours for potential tenants, and getting them to sign leases in a short time, is a major difficulty in the industry.
“We looked at a number of technology solutions to help facilitate this, and Tour24 was the clear favorite,” Walton said in the statement. “Not only does the technology do what we need it to do, but it has been successfully deployed in real-world situations and has a strong track record of performing as advertised.”
A lot more companies are ramping up their virtual leasing tours with partnerships and new leadership to aid in their business growth. Recently, Peek, a leasing platform for home searches, partnered with Greystar, Toll Brothers and Brookfield, and is currently used in more than 150,000 units today.
In other recent proptech news, Livly announced a 70% increase in its monthly sales of apartment unit software. Trepp also released its annual CRE sentiment survey results.