Neighbourlytics, a startup in urban-data based in Melbourne, has secured $1.25 million in seed funding to facilitate its expansion in response to growing demand. The investment was led by Trawalla Group, owned by Carol Schwartz, and included contributions from Scale Investors, a female-focused angel investor network, and Artesian, a venture capital firm. Neighbourlytics was launched in 2017 as part of BlueChilli’s SheStarts accelerator program. The co-founders, Jessica Christiansen-Franks and Lucinda Hartley, are both former urban designers who had operated a consulting business together for five years.
Neighbourlytics is a startup that offers a social analytics platform aimed at measuring the “quality and wellbeing in cities and neighbourhoods, based on their digital footprint”, according to co-founder Jessica Christiansen-Franks. The data collected by Neighbourlytics from platforms such as Google and Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, Zomato and Yelp allows governments, developers and city-makers to gain insight into an area and plan or build accordingly. The company, which has seen strong customer traction, solves a significant “pain point” for both the government and property sector, according to co-founder Lucinda Hartley.
Inspirational investors
According to Hartley, having the support of Carol Schwartz is a significant accomplishment for Neighbourlytics co-founders, as she is a prominent figure in the property industry and adds credibility to the product. The Trawalla Group has also been very supportive of the startup. In addition to monetary assistance, Scale Investors provides a diverse group of people with a variety of skills and expertise to assist in the company’s growth. The seed funding will be used to further develop the Neighbourlytics product, as well as to address technical issues. The startup currently uses an acquisition model to sell its live data, but the co-founders intend to implement a more conventional Software-as-a-Service model, enabling customers to subscribe and access data sets and track trends at any time. The team is also considering expanding the reach of their data capture to cover entire cities, allowing municipalities to compare how well neighborhoods are doing. According to Hartley, this direction is now the best product option since the team has collaborated with enough customers and realized their desire for more real-time capability and scalability. To accelerate their growth, the co-founders plan to recruit more developers.
You’re the one doing the hard work
Hartley and Christiansen-Franks have gained valuable knowledge during their journey as founders, but Hartley emphasizes that founders possess the most comprehensive understanding of their business.
The startup industry offers an abundance of advice, making it a great resource, but it can also be overwhelming as people have differing opinions, according to Hartley.
Despite the influx of advice, founders must recognize that they are the ultimate authority on what is best for their business as they are the ones working on it day in and day out.
Although it is beneficial to consider external advice, founders should be prepared to reject it if it conflicts with their understanding of their customers’ needs, which they know better than outsiders.
Hartley acknowledges the importance of learning from others, but stresses that founders must trust their own judgment when making decisions for their business.
