Client Spotlight: EliseAI
October 28, 2024
We’re excited to feature our client EliseAI, the largest and most advanced conversational AI platform for the housing industry. This past August marked a monumental milestone for the company: a $75 million Series D funding round, valuing the company at over $1 billion and establishing it as New York City’s latest unicorn. The transaction was led by Jesse Nash.
We spoke with Jesse and Andrew Korn, EliseAI CFO, about the recent fundraise. In this interview, Andrew shares insights into the company’s mission, the evolving role of AI in PropTech, and what’s next for the company, while Jesse reflects on his journey with EliseAI and delves into the challenges of working with a cutting-edge AI company and navigating an evolving regulatory landscape. This interview offers a must-read perspective on the intersection of AI and law in advancing PropTech:
What inspired Minna and Tony to found EliseAI, and how has the company’s mission evolved as the platform has grown?
Andrew: Minna and Tony started the company to apply cutting edge artificial intelligence to industries serving fundamental human needs in order to have a positive impact on as many people as possible. They identified the greatest opportunity in the housing sector, and Minna took an administrative role at a brokerage firm to better understand challenges in the industry. They observed that slow and inefficient communication was the primary barrier for renters seeking homes. They developed our platform to streamline these conversations. We have not wavered from that mission, and today help deliver amazing experiences to prospects and renters of close to 3mm homes.
Tell us a little about your journey and involvement with EliseAI?
Jesse: I began working with EliseAI in 2020, during the height of lockdown, when they were still at seed stage. They had some early challenges with contract negotiation friction and asked me to re-work their core subscription agreement to make for a smoother negotiation and client on-boarding process. This was great because it allowed me to go deep on the core real estate product and how the business model really works. Key issues included reserving appropriate rights in user data as necessary to train the AI engine and making sure the risk allocation terms were appropriate as between company/subscriber. I am amazed by their progress since then – yet somehow not surprised given how talented Minna, Tony, Andrew and the team are. I could not be more proud to be a small part of their success.
What excites you the most about the future of AI in proptech, and what opportunities do you see for further innovation in this space?
Andrew: The future of AI in property technology promises enhanced operational efficiency through automation, smarter tenant experiences, and data-driven decision-making. AI will optimize tasks like tenant screening, predictive maintenance, and leasing, while personalizing interactions through advanced conversational tools. It will also enable more accurate property valuations and help drive sustainability by managing energy consumption in buildings.
With Elise AI reaching a $1+ billion valuation, what are the plans to scale from here?
Andrew: In 2023, the company expanded its technology into healthcare with HealthAI, automating non-clinical tasks such as patient conversations, appointment scheduling, and billing. Experiencing strong demand across both housing and healthcare industries, EliseAI is one of the few vertical-focused AI companies operating at scale. The company plans to use proceeds from its recent funding round to rapidly expand its team, drive product innovation, and build a portfolio of industry partnerships, enhancing integration with other systems for maximum value.
You have counseled EliseAI from it's early days, and recently led the team working on its Series D - what were the biggest legal challenges you encountered as it achieved significant growth?
Jesse: As AI proliferates, there are a lot of interesting traps for the unwary in terms of making sure the data training the AI engine is appropriately sourced in compliance with data privacy laws, making sure the algorithm comports with anti-discrimination rules and norms, and making sure the client’s intellectual property is duly protected. Of particular importance is making sure the clients’ cutting edge, disruptive business models align with federal and state laws and regulations. In many cases the applicability of these laws is not intuitive, and new laws and rules are being proposed and passed constantly. Across the legal landscape recently, regulators and plaintiff’s attorneys are targeting AI companies who grew too fast without paying sufficient attention to these regulatory compliance concerns. A client as dynamic as EliseAI is constantly innovating and adding to their feature set. It has been challenging and rewarding to work with the amazing EliseAI team in running these compliance issues to ground as they pop up, helping to mitigate risk and keeping the company growing.
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