During his almost seven years helping build Toronto tech giants Sampler and Flipp, Muhammad Rashid worked as a mortgage broker on the side and often helped his millennial co-workers with their first home purchase. While facilitating a number of mortgage transactions for his colleagues, he identified an opportunity to streamline the home-buying process through the use of technology, and turned to his experienced Flipp peers, Adam Hijleh and Abbas Ali, to help him digitize his work.
“When we put together the mockups of this online platform, we took a step back and thought… maybe there’s an opportunity to commercialize this,” says Muhammad. “So we tested it in one of the oddest ways possible – we put together an Instagram profile, posted our mockups and followed every mortgage broker we could find.” When that profile generated interest from hundreds of brokers, the trio launched Doorr (originally Moregidge) with the goal of building a digital mortgage platform specifically for brokers.
Doorr offers three main advantages to brokers. Firstly, Doorr integrates all the core brokerage functions into one platform, meaning brokers don’t need to fragment their operations between five to seven different systems as they typically would. Secondly, the founding team used their experience working with flourishing tech companies to ensure the platform was intuitive and easy to use. Finally, Doorr gives brokers complete ownership of their data so that they can maintain their client base no matter where their career takes them.
As first-time founders, the Doorr team initially brought the venture to YSpace to benefit from the personalized attention and expertise in the community. “We got a really personalized, hands-on experience from David Kwok [YSpace Entrepreneurship Manager] that I don’t think we would’ve gotten elsewhere,” recalls Muhammad. “Once we joined, he was fully invested in making introductions and checking on us to see where he could help.”
“We got a really personalized, hands-on experience from David Kwok [YSpace Entrepreneurship Manager] that I don’t think we would’ve gotten elsewhere…Once we joined, he was fully invested in making introductions and checking on us to see where he could help.”
The Doorr co-founders also leaned on David Kwok’s advice for fundraising. His guidance and expertise allowed Doorr to raise a pre-seed round of over $500,000 at a valuation significantly higher than initially anticipated.
Doorr has continued to grow even after graduating from YSpace. Today, the Doorr platform is used by over 300 brokers across Canada. The system currently houses over $10 billion in mortgage transactions and processes approximately $100 million in new mortgage applications each month. The team is currently piloting their platform with both mortgage broker networks and major Canadian financial institutions.
The ultimate goal for Doorr is to reinvent the entire home-buying process. Though the platform currently tailors to brokers specifically, it will soon add features for realtors, appraisers and solicitors. While Doorr continues to grow in Canada, the company is eyeing international expansion with potential markets being the UK and the US.
Even amidst the competitive FinTech landscape, Muhammad and the founding team are staying focused on the path ahead. “A lot of entrepreneurs get demotivated or disappointed that they’re not achieving the same perceived success as other companies,” says Muhammad. “You need to focus on your own work and stay in your lane – you know what you’re doing, you know what it takes to succeed, so grind towards that and you’ll eventually get there.”
“You need to focus on your own work and stay in your lane – you know what you’re doing, you know what it takes to succeed, so grind towards that and you’ll eventually get there.”
With that focused mindset and the support of the YSpace community, Doorr is continuing to make waves in the financial services industry and charting the future of the home-buying market.