PropTech Company Tribe Property Pitches Carbon Footprint Reduction

Tribe Property Technologies recently has promoted its proptech expansion of offerings. The company said that it was “growing its portfolio of multifamily real estate as it delivers new tech-enabled solutions to make everything from post-construction inspections to collecting rent payments as efficient and easy as possible,” according to a press release.

The company’s biggest efforts are in process automation and communications, whether for landlords, developers, property managers, or such resident groups as condo boards and HOAs. 

Tribe also tried promoting its offerings as reducing carbon footprint “by reducing dependence on paper,” but it isn’t clear that any savings would necessarily be significant or if the carbon use of paper—because paper comes from trees which lock carbon that was in the atmosphere—would necessarily total more than the power usage of computers. That sort of comparative analysis would be difficult to perform and substantiate.

The company did mention some partnerships, like one with Eddy Solutions, maker of a smart water monitoring system, and adding water monitoring could be helpful, although it’s not a byproduct of Tribe’s own offerings. A partnership with Fresh Prep, offering discounts on “zero-waste” meal delivery services, also doesn’t let Tribe directly lower carbon.

Tribe recently announced its 2021 Q4 and fiscal year results. “This was a transformational year for Tribe, and we capped it off with consistently strong results in Q4, achieving record annual revenue and gross margin for the full year,” CEO Joseph Nakhla said in prepared remarks. Annual revenue, in Canadian dollars, was $15.8 million, up 247% of the $4.6 million from the previous year.

Gross profit was $7.5 million, but as the Canadian (which uses the IFRS accounting standards) company noted, that isn’t an IFRS-recognized measurement, so would be considered a pro forma indicator.

Adjusted EBIDTA also isn’t a term under IFRS as there isn’t an objective definition of it. Under that rubric, Tribe announced an annual loss of $7.6 million. “Adjusted EBITDA 2 is provided as a proxy for the cash earnings from the operations of the business as operating income (loss) for the Company includes non-cash amortization and depreciation expense and stock-based compensation,” the business explained.

The company went public in May 2021 at about $5 but that has slid since to about $2.35 at the end of Monday, May 16, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.