Every now and then we’re lucky enough to meet a company that opens our eyes to an enormous problem we never knew could be solved with technology.
That is what drew us to the team at Deckard, an unparalleled obsession with building products and a desire to tackle obscure and challenging problems in the world. The company is named after Rick Deckard from Blade Runner, a subtle nod to the world in which they operate where their software ‘bots’ need to behave as human-like as possible.
We first got introduced to the company by Henry Innis the founder of Mutinex. Deckard was unknown to most in the Australian venture ecosystem but had a reputation in the data science community. At first this struck us as a US company with an international team and customer base. Looking under the surface we were lucky to find the most brilliant group of technologists with a team in Australia, San Diego and Colombia solving some of the world’s most difficult data challenges from an unassuming office in Pyrmont.
A world-class technical team…
We spend a lot of time at EVP reflecting on characteristics of good investments, one recurrent indicator is the energy and commitment of the team. The founders seemed to have a unique mix of product obsession coupled with a deep track-record of execution. When we met with the Deckard team they were all of the above and more. Craig, Greg, Jess, Tony and Nick, all original founders of the business, spent over a decade working together on various special projects at Qualcomm. Greg is named on 151 patents, Craig was involved in the development of ubiquitous standards still used on the web today and Nick learned to run a team from his time in the US special operations forces. They saw the evolution of big data and the cloud from the ground up, getting intimately familiar with the ins and outs of managing, analysing and creating products around the world’s largest datasets. From this experience they turned their attention to solving big data challenges for the government.
Helping governments manage property and tax problems with data
Managing property compliance and collecting taxes is a daunting challenge for governments. They often lack the necessary resources and technology to do so effectively. This is an especially big problem in the US where property related revenues account for a large portion of tax collections required to fund schools and infrastructure at the local and state level. Some US municipalities and cities are adopting digital processes to replace outdated paper-based systems, but by and large they still face difficulties in identifying individuals who are not complying with tax and compliance requirements. Additionally, the pace of technological change is rapid, and local governments are struggling to keep up with the growing complexity caused by new platforms like Airbnb. The Deckard team, with their unique technology capabilities, have built products which address a number of these challenges via big data.
Starting with short-term rentals
One of the most pertinent challenges in recent times has been the proliferation of short-term rentals, such as those listed on AirBnb and Stayz. With an estimated 1.4 million active listings in the US in 2023 and total spending exceeding US$20 billion, many short-term rental operators may not be compliant with local rules, either intentionally or unknowingly.
The hero product is Rentalscape, a platform that helps local governments with short-term rental compliance by providing precise data collected at scale. Their systems manage over a trillion data records and generate a billion plus new records every day. They serve over 235 jurisdictions across the US and Australia which includes various counties, states and cities which have a need for monitoring. The market opportunity here is large and stands at over 3,300 counties in the US and a subset of the 20,000 cities.
With a vision to tackle even bigger challenges in gov-tech…
While the opportunity in short-term rental compliance is large and growing, there are even larger challenges across government more broadly. The team sees a compelling opportunity to continue serving data and workflow products to their established customer base, all with data science at the core...
Since we invested, the team has expanded the product suite outside of short term rentals to a product that provides infrastructure for monitoring, identifying and registering foreclosed or vacant properties. Deckard tracks every foreclosure including transfer of pending foreclosures between banks making it easy for government officials to identify who hasn't registered. The comprehensive evidence packages are often used in court proceedings. This is just the beginning.
Metrics that indicate real customer value
To round it all off, the company was green-lighting on a number of metrics, including stellar growth, zero churn and a ballooning pipeline that made an investment compelling. Customer conversations showed how prolific this problem was and just how difficult short-term rentals are to regulate. A world without a system like Deckard is having to rely on anonymous phone calls and trawling the web manually for clues. Most importantly, Deckard was able to define the ROI of a city manager with and without the technology in terms of revenue. And now, Deckard is delivering on its promise to build a multi-product business providing technology solutions across broad categories of property related compliance and management.
At the core of it we are backing the people at Deckard and their capabilities. The success of the business is a lagging indicator to the passion and superb execution of Craig, Greg, Jess, Tony and Nick. We’re incredibly privileged to be supporting them on their journey.
Every now and then we’re lucky enough to meet a company that opens our eyes to an enormous problem we never knew could be solved with technology.
That is what drew us to the team at Deckard, an unparalleled obsession with building products and a desire to tackle obscure and challenging problems in the world. The company is named after Rick Deckard from Blade Runner, a subtle nod to the world in which they operate where their software ‘bots’ need to behave as human-like as possible.
We first got introduced to the company by Henry Innis the founder of Mutinex. Deckard was unknown to most in the Australian venture ecosystem but had a reputation in the data science community. At first this struck us as a US company with an international team and customer base. Looking under the surface we were lucky to find the most brilliant group of technologists with a team in Australia, San Diego and Colombia solving some of the world’s most difficult data challenges from an unassuming office in Pyrmont.
A world-class technical team…
We spend a lot of time at EVP reflecting on characteristics of good investments, one recurrent indicator is the energy and commitment of the team. The founders seemed to have a unique mix of product obsession coupled with a deep track-record of execution. When we met with the Deckard team they were all of the above and more. Craig, Greg, Jess, Tony and Nick, all original founders of the business, spent over a decade working together on various special projects at Qualcomm. Greg is named on 151 patents, Craig was involved in the development of ubiquitous standards still used on the web today and Nick learned to run a team from his time in the US special operations forces. They saw the evolution of big data and the cloud from the ground up, getting intimately familiar with the ins and outs of managing, analysing and creating products around the world’s largest datasets. From this experience they turned their attention to solving big data challenges for the government.
Helping governments manage property and tax problems with data
Managing property compliance and collecting taxes is a daunting challenge for governments. They often lack the necessary resources and technology to do so effectively. This is an especially big problem in the US where property related revenues account for a large portion of tax collections required to fund schools and infrastructure at the local and state level. Some US municipalities and cities are adopting digital processes to replace outdated paper-based systems, but by and large they still face difficulties in identifying individuals who are not complying with tax and compliance requirements. Additionally, the pace of technological change is rapid, and local governments are struggling to keep up with the growing complexity caused by new platforms like Airbnb. The Deckard team, with their unique technology capabilities, have built products which address a number of these challenges via big data.
Starting with short-term rentals
One of the most pertinent challenges in recent times has been the proliferation of short-term rentals, such as those listed on AirBnb and Stayz. With an estimated 1.4 million active listings in the US in 2023 and total spending exceeding US$20 billion, many short-term rental operators may not be compliant with local rules, either intentionally or unknowingly.
The hero product is Rentalscape, a platform that helps local governments with short-term rental compliance by providing precise data collected at scale. Their systems manage over a trillion data records and generate a billion plus new records every day. They serve over 235 jurisdictions across the US and Australia which includes various counties, states and cities which have a need for monitoring. The market opportunity here is large and stands at over 3,300 counties in the US and a subset of the 20,000 cities.
With a vision to tackle even bigger challenges in gov-tech…
While the opportunity in short-term rental compliance is large and growing, there are even larger challenges across government more broadly. The team sees a compelling opportunity to continue serving data and workflow products to their established customer base, all with data science at the core...
Since we invested, the team has expanded the product suite outside of short term rentals to a product that provides infrastructure for monitoring, identifying and registering foreclosed or vacant properties. Deckard tracks every foreclosure including transfer of pending foreclosures between banks making it easy for government officials to identify who hasn't registered. The comprehensive evidence packages are often used in court proceedings. This is just the beginning.
Metrics that indicate real customer value
To round it all off, the company was green-lighting on a number of metrics, including stellar growth, zero churn and a ballooning pipeline that made an investment compelling. Customer conversations showed how prolific this problem was and just how difficult short-term rentals are to regulate. A world without a system like Deckard is having to rely on anonymous phone calls and trawling the web manually for clues. Most importantly, Deckard was able to define the ROI of a city manager with and without the technology in terms of revenue. And now, Deckard is delivering on its promise to build a multi-product business providing technology solutions across broad categories of property related compliance and management.
At the core of it we are backing the people at Deckard and their capabilities. The success of the business is a lagging indicator to the passion and superb execution of Craig, Greg, Jess, Tony and Nick. We’re incredibly privileged to be supporting them on their journey.