Ben Kinney Companies, a collection of brokerages and other real estate service enterprises, announced Friday it has acquired a pair of Canadian businesses that specialize in artificial intelligence and website creation.
Ben Kinney
In a statement, Ben Kinney — founder and CEO of his eponymous companies — revealed that he had scooped up Gabbi.ai and Redman Tech. He said the acquisition should bolster his companies’ mission of cutting down the daily tasks of brokers and agents by as much as 75 percent, and added that owning the tech businesses “is consistent with our vision to keep the real estate agent relevant in every transaction.”
Gabbi.ai bills itself as an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant that “never sleeps.” It was built by real estate agents and is optimized to work on mobile devices. The company also promises to help eliminate “tedious” tasks and convert more leads for users.
Gabbi.ai’s homepage | Credit: BKC
According to a statement from Ben Kinney Companies (BKC), Gabbi.ai also “supports agents by helping book showings, manage client follow-up, task management as well as email, text and phone communications.”
Redman Tech, an IDX website provider, promises to set up “high-converting real estate websites” for agents. The sites can be branded, are mobile friendly, and integrate with multiple listing services.
An image of Redman Tech’s homepage | Credit: BKC
Both Gabbi.ai and Redman Tech are based in Edmonton, Canada, which Kinney described in his statement as “an international hub of artificial intelligence and machine learning development.” BKC said in its statement that both companies are also a natural compliment to its existing software suite.
The financial details of the acquisitions were not made public.
Washington state-based BKC includes Keller Williams brokerages in Washington state, Colorado, Texas, California, Idaho and the U.K. It also employs sales teams, offers training resources and has a tech platform, among other products and services.
The company also has a track record of buying up real estate-focused tech businesses. In early 2017, for example, BKC acquired real estate software provider Blueroof360, its fifth tech company. Later that year, BKC also picked up a chatbot technology company as well.
Kinney on Friday touted the addition of Gabbi.ai and Redman Tech to this growing real estate empire.
“We are excited about the new technology and strong customer base both Gabbi.ai and Redman bring to the table,” he said in his statement, “however not as excited as we are that the entire staff and leadership team have agreed to stay with [BKC] and become a part of our future growth and opportunities.”