A new property start-up has secured investment of over £500,000 from investors including former LSL director David Newnes, one of the most respected figures in the industry.

AskPorter describes itself as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered property management platform.

The latest investors also include James Caan and Faisal Butt, as well as a follow-on commitment from proptech venture capital firm Pi Labs.

The London-based startup, which was co-founded in 2016 by Tom Shrive and Sam Tassell, claims to be the first property management platform of its kind.

Features include a digital assistant for property managers and a property concierge for customers and tenants.

The digital assistant ‘Porter’ proactively carries out planned duties, guides customers through enquiries and reporting issues, and delivers concierge services, only reverting to a human manager or approved service provider when necessary.

The new funding and partnerships will be used to develop the platform, which is currently being introduced to clients who own or manage residential and commercial properties.

AskPorter is a graduate of Cohort 4 of the Pi Labs pre-seed programme which finished last year, and subsequently the Land Registry backed Geovation programme.

Newnes, who was in charge of estate agency at LSL and who ‘retired’ at the end of 2014 after an outstanding career, said: “I’m delighted to be part of the AskPorter team.

“This new technology has useful, practical applications that will add to and significantly improve the service that managing agents are able to offer landlords and tenants – both in AST and block management.

“It will augment existing property management systems, saving time and cost and it will also take some of the hassle out of the many processes managing agents have to follow.

“New technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning which are at the heart of AskPorter will undoubtedly play an increasing role in people’s lives – including estate agency and property management.”