Startup Spotlight: How Two Fresh Grads Are Automating the Future of Property Management

Hey Innovators,

We’re kicking off the edition by spotlighting two McGill grads who dove headfirst into the startup life—and are making waves. Meet Simon Wang and Edwin Zhou, the brains behind Ensemble AI, a startup that’s about to shake up the real estate game in a big way.

Highlights:

• Founders: Simon Wang & Edwin Zhou

• Startup: Ensemble AI—bringing tech magic to real estate.

• Stage: Pre-launch, and already making noise.

• Location: Based out of Quebec, Canada

The Grind: From Uni to $$$ Simon and Edwin’s entrepreneurial journey started through a consultancy firm, helping startups turn their product ideas into reality—and they excelled at it! Their standout pitch? "We can build anything for you in under a month." This unique proposition led to quick success, allowing them to generate six figures while still in university.

The Big Pivot: Real Estate Tech: As they scaled their consultancy, it became clear that a pivot was necessary. This revelation came when a client, a real estate developer, highlighted the challenges within the industry and that got them thinking: “Why not fix this?”

Tackling the Challenge of Being New Grads in Real Estate: Without any real estate experience—especially being fresh out of university—they faced a significant hurdle. “Nobody wanted to talk to us because we didn’t have 10 years of industry experience.” Frustrating, right? They spent months trying to establish a foothold.

Instead of giving up, they decided to go all in and thought, "Why not speak the language of these professionals?" 

Cracking the Code: Through meaningful conversations with approximately 30-40 industry players, they dug into the challenges faced in issue and property management. This relentless effort led them to uncover a huge pain point: the chaos of issue management in multi-residential and commercial properties 💡

The Game-Changer: Auto-Dispatching Their solution? A system that automates problem reporting and dispatches it straight to the right contractors—no more waiting for property managers to step in. Think seamless tenant-to-contractor comms, in real time.

What’s Next: Strategy & Scaling These guys know tech, but they also know strategy. Here’s what’s in the works:

1. Talk the Talk: They’re building tight-knit relationships with real estate players, making sure their solution fits seamlessly into the industry—focusing on user-friendly solutions and creating business incentives to drive adoption. For instance, offering bonuses to contractors for using the system could foster a win-win scenario for everyone involved.

2. Pre-Launch Hype: To keep potential customers engaged, Simon and Edwin have built a mailing list of around 250 property managers, regularly updating this group on their progress and creating buzz ahead of their official launch

3. The Big Vision: Ensemble AI isn’t just about issue management—they’ve got plans to build out complete software solutions for real estate. Watch this space.

Pro Tips for Aspiring Founders:

• Adapt & Flex: Know your audience and switch up your pitch to fit. Persistence will pay off.

• User Love: Make sure your product makes life easier for your users—whether it’s incentives or a better workflow.

• Network Like a Pro: Attend events like Startupfest and Collision—great for motivation. The real learning happens when you dive into industry-specific conferences.

• Own the Rejection: Every ‘no’ brings you one step closer to a better ‘yes.’ Learn from it, level up, and keep going.

Stay tuned for more startup stories, founder tips, and behind-the-scenes action!