A Dallas-based AI startup with a mission of changing the lives of those seeking affordable housing is expanding beyond the Lone Star State.
Bejoy Narayana, CEO and co-founder of BoodsKapper, a provider of AI software solutions for housing authorities, told NTX Inno that the company has plans to partner with a housing authority in Oklahoma. This will mark the company’s first expansion out of the Texas.
In addition to the announcement, Narayana said BoodsKapper is also working on a deal with the Indianapolis Housing Authority. However, that has yet to be confirmed.
“I spend a lot of time with inspectors… I’ve learned quite a bit to understand what people really want,” Narayana told NTX Inno.
The move comes as BoodsKapper is planning on adding a number of enhancements to its software product, which it expects to start rolling out in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, according to Narayana.
BoodsKapper was launched in 2015. Earlier this month, the startup announced landing a seed round for an undisclosed amount and by an undisclosed investor.
In September of last year, BoodsKapper partnered with the Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) to use its platform InspectionMate to optimize routes for drivers doing inspections on properties for prospective tenants. According to DHA CEO Troy Broussard, the technology helped the organization cut its inspection times from about 15 days to between two and three days, which helps the DHA place residents who are on a 90-day deadline find housing faster. The software has been used to conduct nearly 14,500 inspections in North Texas.
With the expected additions to the technology, BoodsKapper is hoping to create a full-service platform that can be implemented by nearly any housing authority in the country.
“The most important things are not done yet,” Narayana said. “The network effect we intend to bring… is the biggest value we create for the world.”
