Reviva is the first startup created to liven up real estate auctions’ buying and selling. It uses predictive models and machine learning along with an experiential marketing process to reach potential buyers in the traditional real estate market, making them aware of the auction market and helping them find the right property for them. The goal is to help them understand its true value and get them to buy at a fairer price.
We interviewed Co Founder and CEO Ivano De Natale.

How was the idea of REVIVA born ?

Italy has the sad record of being the country with the highest number of NPLs in Europe: loans that banks have given and debtors have not been able to repay. There are calculated to be about 325 billion circulating in the Italian system. When an NPL is guaranteed by a real estate the only way the bank has to recover its credit and the debtor to repay it is by auction but, due to a cumbersome and obsolete mechanism, 72% of the auctions in Italy are deserted. This means that nobody shows up to buy the properties which are then sold after 5 years on average at a price much lower than their market value. This has a strong impact on creditors, who are unable to recover the amount paid, debtors, who are unable to repay, and the company suffering from liquidity. In addition to this, the value of the auctioned houses pulls down the value of the properties put up for sale on the traditional market. Our solution was to founding Reviva.

How does Reviva affect the industry?

We have managed to increase real estate auction sales by 43% and one out of four times our buyer is the one who wins the property because he or she has understood its value. All this has a positive impact both for banks and creditors who are able to recover larger sums, for debtors, who are able to repay, and on society, which finally has a more prosperous economy thanks to the injection of liquidity.

What stage of growth are you in?

Right now we are in the growth phase and we have already positioned Reviva on the market: we are recognized as a leader by our clients.
As far as fundraising is concerned, so far we have done bootstrapping: my partner and I invested all our savings initially in the company and then we invested all the profits in marketing and technology. We are launching our fundraising campaign which will take place in three parts, one part as convertible financing by an institution, another part with equity business angel financing that also brings experience and a third part through crowdfunding. We will finish our campaign by December 2020

What do you expect from entering the Fintech District?

Entering the Fintech District allows us to create and build relationships with other startups and companies and institutions in the financial world. During this period, actually,we are about to conclude a partnership with another fintech that is active in the real estate lending and crowdfunding branch.

What is your team like?

Our team is composed of 16 people all located in the tech, data science, administration and commercial areas. The average age is between 25 and 30 years old: my co-founder partner is 30 and I am 38, together with some other commercial people we are the oldest in the company. To find some older people you have to look at the advisors: nine of them who helped us in the first years of our startup and who have an average age between 45 and 55 years.

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