Ones to Watch. CompStak.
Back when he was working as a broker, Michael Mandel noticed a problem. Long meetings discussing lease comps with little or no relevance to his own business. He knew that somewhere within it all lay important information, but it was taking too much time to get. So he designed CompStak. A novel way to source large numbers of lease comps, to allow surveyors, lenders and investors alike access to relevant, comprehensive lease comp data.
The company announced their arrival into the American big-time with a $565,000 seed funding round in 2012. Four years later they have raised a further $14million in investment, and are now moving into the London market.
How It Works
Surveyors, appraisers and researchers access the service free. They upload their lease comp data onto the platform. This gives them ‘credit’, which they can use to access data around other lease comps in their area. All entries are anonymous, and all new comps are analysed for accuracy before being added to the system.
CompStak generate revenue by offering the data to property investment firms, landlords and lenders. Initially this was on a subscription basis of around £25,000 per year, but last year the firm began to offer an on-demand service, allowing smaller companies to access the data as well. This saw a surge in usage, and has allowed them to pose a serious threat to the more established data giants, CoStar.
What it Means
With large numbers of agents uploading their lease comps, a vast database is accumulated. Agents can search quickly for relevant data, making the process of valuing and comparing the market more efficient and transparent.
In his own Words
Michael Mandel explains what CompStak is about in an interview a couple of years ago.