TitleWise was created out of the founders' own need for a solution.
Jennifer and Chris Mason co-own Southern Indiana Abstract Co., a third-generation Indiana firm focusing on real estate title research.
Jennifer Mason said they were looking for a product to streamline the process for a title abstractor and couldn’t find anything.
“We saw innovation happening in the industry all around us except for the researcher’s role,” she said. “When we couldn't find the tool that we needed, we just kind of started building it ourselves from scratch.”
TitleWise offers a web-based tool for creating digital reports and databases specifically designed for real estate title abstractors. The app enables title researchers to produce typed reports in the field, on the go, remotely.
The duo launched the first version of the app in 2019 with Southern Indiana Abstract Co. clients. They immediately saw good results.
“We launched it with our own clients and, you know, saw all the good things,” Jennifer said. “Turnaround times dropped, volume increase, new client enrollment doubled. And because it was so successful, we thought other people need this tool too.”
The founders wanted to create an app that could be used anywhere on any device. Jennifer said the app can be used on laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktops and more.
This summer, the company were among winners of two startup competitions, the Community Foundation of Louisville’s Vogt Invention & Innovation Awards and the Render Competition from Render Capital. The prizes included $100,000 from Render and $25,000, as well as a 10-week accelerator program, from Vogt.
“It's been an amazing opportunity,” Jennifer said. "I've described it as: It felt like the last year building TitleWise, I was doing it in the dark, and then we got on board with Vogt. It's like someone just flipped on the light switch."
TitleWise will be launching a commercial version of the app at the end of the year. That version will be open to subscribers where prices will scale depending on the number of files.
“Ninety-one percent of title researchers are small businesses, so we know that accessibility and affordability are key,” Jennifer said.
The founders have plans to grow the company once the tool gets new users. Jennifer said right now, TitleWise consists of the founders and the Chief Sales Officer Tom Boofter. Once the first commercial version is released, she said the company will have two hiring initiatives.
“We're looking at how we move — Chris and I as founders — full time,” Jennifer said. “Shifting away from the title company, and putting our interest, really to start our day-to-day operation energy fully on the TitleWise side.”
Jennifer said it was important for the company to focus on an empathetic, intuitive design because of the vast generational range that exists in the real estate industry. While some folks may be rigid to change and adopting the technology, others are reader for the quicker and easier way of doing things.
The duo is also noticing that, like many industries, there's a staffing shortage and a lack of young talent. Jennifer said they are excited to be part of technological innovations that are attracting younger workers.
TitleWise operates out of an office at Elevate at Bolt & Tie in Southern Indiana.
Jennifer said the app is just the beginning of innovation that can happen in the researcher space, which has been lagging behind other aspects of a real estate transaction technologically.
“A question we get is, 'Why hasn't anyone done this yet?' … We're seeing with researchers, we're still using handwritten notes, yellow legal pads, fax machines,” she said. “Research is kind of the foundation of the transaction process ... So innovation and digitization has been happening kind of all around us later in that transaction process, and we're kind of the last cog in the machine that needs that digital facelift.”
