Thursday, July 3, 2008

Location needs $400k to fund househunt search engine

By Mass High Tech Staff

Location Inc.
Headquarters: Woonsocket, R.I.
Employees: 6
Founded: 2002
Web: www.neighborhoodscout.com
E-mail: aschiller@locationinc.com
Phone: 401-766-3227 x101

The Pitch: Location Inc. is seeking $400,000.

PITCHING THE TECHNOLOGY
Location Inc.’s  product is NeighborhoodScout, a search engine for neighborhoods intended to help homebuyers focus their house hunt. The patented search engine matches neighborhoods to the needs of each user and covers every neighborhood in the United States. The company said NeighborhoodScout, based on the doctoral research of founder Andrew Schiller, gets to consumers during the earliest phase of their house hunt, before they connect with real estate agents or other service providers. For the last six months Location Inc. has been focusing on a redesign of its website. The company said it has added new categories of information, including proprietary comparable school ratings throughtout the country, appreciation rates, and crime data for every neighborhood.

PITCHING THE PEOPLE
Who is on the management team? Andrew Schiller, president, formerly of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee Chapter; Andrew Couture, vice president of business development.

Have executives been involved in a cashout prior to this venture? No.

Who is on the board of advisers? Barry Glick, founder and former CEO of MapQuest.com; Bruce Walczak, former general manager of PHH Homequity (now Cendant Mobility).

PITCHING THE BUSINESS
How much money is being sought? Location Inc. is seeking $400,000 to complete a $1 million round of growth capital.

What partnerships, collaborations or affiliations are already in place? Location Inc. has licensing agreements with ZipRealty, RealtyTrac, Inest, Paragon Global Services and Royal LePage, according to the company.

List any federal or state grants, contracts or awards received: None.

What’s the market size being pursued? Location Inc. estimates the online real estate market at $3 billion, with 41 million unique visitors a month.

Who are the likely competitors, direct or indirect? The company said its competition comes from websites such as Trulia.com, Zillow.com, BestPlaces.net and OnBoard.com.

Is the company profitable? No.