Doormat becomes Ownright, closes $4.5 million to help more Ontarians seal real estate deals

Toronto-based proptech startup Doormat has rebranded to Ownright and secured $4.5 million CAD in seed funding to help more Ontarians close residential real estate deals.

Ownright, which offers legal services for property closings, plans to use this capital to expand its team and invest in automation and product innovation as it looks to hone its process, capture more of the Ontario home sales market, and become “the go-to legal partner for real estate transactions.”

“Right now, we’re really focused on just delivering [an] exceptional experience doing one thing and doing it really well,” Ownright co-founder and CEO Robert Saunders told BetaKit in an interview.

“Our ambition is to become Canada’s real estate lawyer.”

Robert Saunders, Ownright

The startup’s all-equity, all-primary seed financing, which closed in late December, was co-led by existing Toronto backers Alate Partners and Relay Ventures, with support from undisclosed angel investors. Saunders declined to disclose Ownright’s valuation.

Founded in 2022 by Saunders, COO Joel Fox, and chief legal officer Benjamin Berry, Ownright provides tech and legal services to simplify the traditionally complex process of closing residential real estate transactions. The startup aims to make property closings, mortgage refinancing, and status certificate reviews more affordable, convenient, and transparent for home buyers and sellers, taking a fee from every purchase, sale, or refinancing.

Ownright competes largely against small, traditional real estate law firms, which Saunders said typically have limited tech capacity. Saunders views Ownright’s vertically-integrated approach—which involves both software and in-house lawyers who operate under a partner law firm—as a differentiator. Fellow Toronto startup Deeded is taking a similar approach.

This round brings Ownright’s total funding to $6.5 million. This figure also includes $1.25 million in convertible note pre-seed financing, in which Alate led and Relay participated, from when the startup launched in 2023. Saunders said that Ownright processed over $150 million in total transactions that year.

Ownright claims it has now facilitated more than 1,000 real estate transactions across Ontario, collectively worth more than $750 million. The company, which is processing hundreds of deals monthly, expects to cross the $1-billion volume mark by the end of this year.

While Ownright has been generating a lot of traction among first-time home buyers and sellers in particular, Saunders said that the company serves a wide variety of clients, including real estate investors and multi-property owners. The startup’s growth to date has largely been driven by referrals from real estate agents and mortgage brokers.

RELATED: Doormat raises $1.25 million to make real estate legal services easier

“We believe Ownright is solving a critical gap in the market by making real estate law more transparent and accessible to home buyers and sellers,” Alate partner Courtney Cooper, who is joining Ownright’s board, said in a statement. “Their approach combines technology with human expertise in a way that no traditional law firm has been able to achieve.”

Ownright initially intended to use its pre-seed capital to expand into British Columbia and Alberta. But Saunders said the startup “learned a lot about how to scale its operations” since then, ultimately deciding to postpone those plans and remain focused on Ontario for the time being, where it still has less than a one-percent market share and sees plenty of room to grow.

Saunders said Ownright wants to prove its model in Ontario before exporting it to other provinces—which remains part of the company’s longer-term gameplan. 

“Our ambition is to become Canada’s real estate lawyer,” Saunders said.

Ownright plans to invest in marketing and bolster its customer experience, back-office tooling, and internal operations to ensure it is ready to scale to service more transactions. To support these goals, Ownright plans to expand its 19-person team to 25 employees.

Feature image courtesy Ownright.