A pair of real estate startup vets are revealing a new company that aims to limit the amount of back-and-forth slog in residential construction.
Ryan Fink and Ty Frackiewicz announced Wednesday the launch of Digs, a web-based platform where builders, homeowners and suppliers can connect and collaborate throughout the build process.
Digs, based in Vancouver, Wash., also announced a $7 million seed round from Fuse and Flying Fish. Other backers include Betaworks, Legacy, Portland Seed Fund, GFR, and others. The fresh funds will go toward increasing headcount and boosting go-to-market efforts.
Fink is a serial entrepreneur. His first exit was an augmented reality glasses startup called ONtheGo Platforms, which Atheer acquired in 2015. He also founded Streem, a startup that developed AR technology for home improvement technicians, which was acquired in 2019 by the home services giant Frontdoor.
Digs, which has 22 employees, is also led by Frackiewicz, currently a principal product manager at Amazon Pay. He previously worked as the VP of product at Streem and was the co-founder and CPO at ONtheGo. Prior to his tech career, Frackiewicz was a project manager at Highline Partners, a luxury home builder in Montana.
Digs users will be able to create a sort of digital hub for the construction process by using a floor plan on the platform. Stakeholders will be able to store documents, assign tasks, and comment. The idea is to consolidate the buildout communication onto a single platform and organize it by room.
For instance, a project manager could upload a list of appliances, pin it to the kitchen, then task the homeowner with selecting the items they want to install. This lets the manager, homeowner, and builders collaborate and communicate in real-time, with the aim to increase overall efficiency.
“With Digs, the homeowner isn’t receiving a hard binder or PDF document,” Fink said. “Instead, they receive a full digital version of their home that they can interact with in meaningful ways after their home is built.”
Digs is currently free through its beta. This will help the startup grow adoption and gather feedback from users, Fink said. The company will eventually look to add a subscription price for builders, he added.
Fink declined to share how many users Digs currently has. He said the startup primarily works with customers in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. Some of its early users include Rogue Builders, Cascade West, and Hinton Development.
The home construction market is expected to reach $124 billion by the end of 2023, according to market research.
Fink works as a venture scout and is a limited partner at Fuse. Asked about the relationship, Fink said there is no conflict because the venture firm invested in Digs through its first fund, and he is an investor in the firm’s second fund.
