The Ridgefield, Connecticut-based startup, Domotics, is developing a virtual reality platform to provide real estate agents a better way to showcase their listings without even stepping foot on the property. The company was also one of the winners of the ‘innovators’ awards at the CES 2022 in January earlier this year.

Domotics plans to unveil its product this fall and aims to raise $3 million in early-stage funding to build a more extensive, better workforce. The real estate industry has experimented with and adapted several virtual reality tools owing to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the company’s founders believe the Domotics RE platform offers a far superior alternative.

The immersive listing platform was co-founded by brothers Josh and Jason LaVardera, along with Michael Sturges. Josh has previously worked for the Westport-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and Torchlight Investors, a real estate investment trust based in New York. He came up with the idea for Domotics when he and his wife went through the cumbersome process of buying a property back in 2019.

The original plan was to build a platform for ‘house flippers’ who undertake a housing project to renovate or refurbish to sell for a profit. But, as they ran the idea by an executive from a California-based company called IntelliMedia Networks, they realized its potential as an all-purpose listing application. Domotics also deployed IntelliMedia’s ‘Mixie HoloPort’ technology to unlock immersive virtual viewing capabilities.

The company would enable agencies and agents to subscribe to the platform and offer a ‘for sale by owner’ option for those looking to venture into the market directly.

Real estate technology startups, or the ‘proptech’ sector, is a vastly developing domain worldwide, having secured over $30 billion in funding in 2021. Domotics is up against several seasoned players in the industry who have already pioneered similar applications.

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