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A $5.75 million seed funding round raised by an Austin-based proptech startup will help the company grow its presence in Houston.

Ownwell’s technology analyzes millions of properties to identify overpaying owners, and the company then offers to protest tax assessments on owners’ behalf for a 25% reduction in the savings they realize. The company estimates that nearly nine out of 10 protests are successful and customers save an average of $1,457.

Ownwell currently employs five people in Houston and expects that number to grow to 10 by the end of this year. Overall, 14 of the company’s 29 employees live in the Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Waco areas.

First Round Capital led the $5.75 million round. Other investors include Wonder Ventures, Founder Collective, Long Journey Ventures and former PayPal board member Scott Banister. So far, Ownwell has raised $7.5 million in funding.

With the new round of funding, Ownwell plans to accelerate recruitment in areas such as sales, marketing, technology and operations.

Ownwell combines machine learning with local property tax expertise to help homeowners combat rising tax assessments.

“Landlords need to consider many things when deciding to protest: the time and money costs, the complexity of the process, and access to real estate expertise and advice,” says Colton Pace, CEO of Ownwell, in a press release. “As part of our mission to reduce ownership inequality, Ownwell handles the entire appeals process on behalf of landlords and charges the lowest fees on the market today.”

Joseph Noor, Ownwell’s chief technology officer, says every property tax appeal filed by the company is not considered complete “until it has been vetted, analyzed, augmented and finalized by a member of our team of property tax specialists”. Ownwell does not make money unless a call is successful.

“At Ownwell, we strive to provide our customers with the benefits of modern technology with the thoughtful touch that can only be provided by an expert in the field,” Noor told InnovationMap.

Colton Pace is the CEO of Ownwell, based in Austin. Image courtesy of Ownwell