Cypriot startup explores business opportunities in Romania
Cypriot real estate analytics startup Ask Wire is aiming to create a comprehensive real estate database for the Balkans, as it is now in talks with Romanian companies to showcase the viability of its commercial offerings.
Ask Wire CEO Pavlos Loizou recently discussed the company’s plans in an interview with Romanian outlet ZF IT Generation, emphasising their engagement with Romania’s InnovX-BCR programme.
The article noted that Ask Wire, which secured a position in the scale-up group of the InnovX-BCR acceleration programme in 2023, aims to demonstrate the value of its real estate database.
The database encompasses earthquake and flood risks, transaction prices, solar energy potential, and traffic patterns.
Moreover, Loizou expressed enthusiasm for potential projects with Romanian companies to prove the practical applications of their data.
“In Romania, we’ve had numerous meetings, including discussions with BCR about initiating a proof of concept project on how the bank can utilise our data for generating leads for ‘green’ loans,” the Cypriot CEO said.
“At the same time, we are in talks with an energy company,” Loizou added during the ZF IT Generation interview.
In addition, the interview noted that Loizou, along with other Ask Wire team members, frequently travels to Bucharest for meetings with potential partners.
As part of their prize from InnovX-BCR, Ask Wire has access to the Hotspot Workhub co-working space in The Mark office building near Victory Square.
Loizou commended the support received from the InnovX-BCR programme, underlying their commitment to assisting the local community around the accelerator.
Furthermore, Loizou said that Ask Wire’s core activity involves collecting public data on all real estate assets in the Balkans, and integrating them into a platform accessible to various users for a number of purposes.
“We collect publicly available data to build a detailed profile for each property in the Balkans,” he said.
He noted that “this means knowing about seismic zones, soil quality, flood risk, and earthquake risk, combined with land department data, and demographic data from the statistics department”.
“It allows us to help companies formulate real estate strategies,” he added.
The company has developed three products based on this data. One focuses on the real estate market, monitoring daily sales from the land department, and providing information on properties for sale, time on the market, and price differentials.
Another product caters to insurance companies, offering insights into risks associated with specific properties and a reconstruction cost model.
The third product involves lead generation for identifying suitable rooftops for installing photovoltaic panels, and supporting green loans and solar companies.
Finally, Loizou used the interview to express hope that if the company successfully signs its first contract in Romania in the first half of this year, as planned, the second half could witness the commencement of hiring activities for Ask Wire in the region.