Since he began his independent life in Montevideo, Andrés Piazze has lived in different buildings.
And according to what he told in an interview with Coffee & Businessin all of them he found common patterns that he considered weaknesses for their operation, standing out, among many others, that in none of these buildings was there a space in which each resident could manage their immediate needs without having to choose to go to the administrators through an email.
This led him to devise a tool for administrators to offer residents of their buildings agility in the response to different questions, above all, in what they need for the use of their apartments.
In 2020, Piazze put together a work team with two engineers —and he, a public accountant— carried out an interview process to see if the market was willing to receive an application of this type and, Understanding that there was a green light, he decided to start the development of the platform.
In the first instance, the team was in charge of defining what they wanted from the platformin order to search the Uruguayan market what software company could develop it. Finally, the decision was made to hire a freelance engineer who, with a work team behind him, completed stages in the creation of the platform: YourAppto.
They went through the testing stages with administrators to define if the qualities of TuAppto were useful for them, which for Piazze was “very important” because it sometimes led them to modify some functionalities, and finally it was launched on the market as a platform for the administrators and also for the residents of the buildings.
Regarding the benefits of the platform for administrators, Piazze maintained that different activities related to building management can be carried out through it. Some examples are that hePeople can receive all the details of the common expenses, and pay them; can hold assemblies and virtual voting can even be carried out: “This is great for us because sometimes there are issues pending from the assembly and Thanks to this, assemblies should not be held again to confirm or enable these decisions”. This was made possible by a modification in the horizontal property law that appeared in the pandemic, because before it was mandatory to hold assemblies in person.
In addition, administrators can notify residents of various news, such as the maintenance of a certain common area. And it also has a control module for the building’s dependent personnel: entrances and exits of porters, cleaners and more.
Regarding the functionalities highlighted by the residents, Piazze highlighted the reservation of common spaces and internal communications. The resident can also give notifications of a visitor that is waiting in his apartment so that the doorman can be sure that the person who enters is that person and not another, and messaging arrival notifications can also be managed.
The price of the platform
Asked about the price of the platform in a building, Piazze said that currently the cost varies for each administrator. “We sat down to talk with the administrator, and we see their possibilities”, affirmed the founder of TuAppto, and explained that this type of operation is due to the fact that in the Uruguayan market there is a great economic difference between a small administrator and a large administrator. So much so that other platforms of this style—which charge a price of between US$1 and US$1.5 per apartment—smaller administrators cannot access.
“We try to ensure that the client is satisfied with the platform; surely what they are going to pay is what they need”he maintained regarding his focus at the time of selling.
TuAppto is currently working mostly on new projects, that is, in complexes being built. Although this platform can be applied to any building that is working, in general, to administrators they find it easier to think about using the platform in new buildings.
The future of the platform
TuAppto is in its first stage, but its work team already has a vision for its future.
According to Piazze, the team is committed to generating something else on this platform: focus on one in one application the needs that a resident has with his administrator. “Be able to give the resident a service to cover those problems you have in your apartment, that is, if you need a trusted carpenter, if you need a trusted locksmith, if you have plumbing issues. That all this can be concentrated on the TuAppto platform,” he explained.
“We see that it has a lot of potential in Uruguay,” he concluded.
