RemoteLaw: 1999 to 2006
*OneMove Technologies’ history dates back to 1999 when Dan Marcotte, a Prince George-based lawyer, had the idea of creating an internet-based solution to simplify real estate conveyancing — the legal process of transferring property ownership from one person or entity to another. Dan incorporated Remotelaw.com Online Systems Corp. in 2000, before renaming the company RemoteLaw Online Systems Corp. (RemoteLaw) in January 2002. RemoteLaw initially contracted the design of its software to a third party but brought development in-house in the spring of 2004. This coincided with internal changes at the British Columbia Land Title Office, which began providing property data electronically via a central database.*
RemoteLaw’s web-based electronic conveyancing platform was fittingly called econveyance. Early on, the platform faced stability issues, which prompted Dan to reach out to the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). By collaborating with UNBC’s computer science department, Dan was able to build a stable product that, by early 2005, was ready for commercial use. By then, econveyance allowed conveyancing professionals in British Columbia to fully embrace a digital workflow, connecting all relevant parties — lawyers, notaries, real estate agents, lenders, and others.
RemoteLaw generates revenue from transaction fees charged to parties using econveyance. These fees are broken down as follows: buy-side transactions cost $30, sell-side transactions cost $20, and mortgage-only or refinancing transactions cost $25. RemoteLaw also charges a fee for ancillary third-party services, such as obtaining title insurance or mortgage protection insurance quotes available within econveyance. Under a service agreement with Access BC and the Government of BC, RemoteLaw is required to pay fees amounting to 27% of each transaction made using econveyance.
In August 2005, RemoteLaw acquired a 50% interest in OneMove Limited, which it later increased to 72.5%. England-based OneMove Limited (OneMove UK), founded by Neil Patel, simplified property transactions by providing customers with a personal moving consultant (PMC). PMCs helped coordinate the various services involved in real estate transactions and fielded customer queries. Following the acquisition, RemoteLaw began developing software for OneMove UK. Given the similarities in land registration systems across Commonwealth countries, RemoteLaw saw this acquisition as an opportunity to expand internationally. At the time, the United Kingdom was enacting legislation to facilitate electronic filing of real estate documents, similar to the system in British Columbia.
Despite RemoteLaw’s world-leading conveyancing software, the company had little to show for it financially. In fiscal year 2005, RemoteLaw generated only $119,858 in revenue and reported a net loss of nearly $2 million. In need of capital, RemoteLaw opted to raise funds through capital pool company (CPC) Interlude Capital Corp. (Interlude), which was taken public in 2005 by Canaccord Capital Corp. CPCs were vehicles used by the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) to facilitate the funding and development of early-stage companies, similar to today’s SPACs. Through Interlude, RemoteLaw raised $4 million and began trading on the TSXV on Tuesday, October 24, 2006, after renaming itself OneMove Technologies (OneMove) a few days earlier.
OneMove: 2007 to 2011
Over the previous four years, OneMove (formerly RemoteLaw) had spent $5 million developing its web-based conveyancing software. As a public company, its initial goal was to capture 40% of all real estate transactions in British Columbia by 2011. At the time, the province averaged 800,000 residential real estate transactions (buys, sells, and refinances) annually. Although electronic conveyancing significantly improved the speed and accuracy of property data transfer, the process was still largely paper-based, leading to duplicated efforts and additional expenses. As CEO, Martin Johnson wisely anticipated the transition from paper-based to electronic conveyancing and negotiated an exclusive agreement between OneMove Technologies and BC Online, the web portal providing government services in British Columbia, including electronic access to land title searches and land title registration filing. As one of the leading electronic conveyancing solutions, OneMove stood to benefit greatly from this shift.
On the product side, OneMove continued to enhance its software. In 2007, it released econveyance 7.0, which integrated with Emergis’ Real Estate Assyst platform. Emergis Assyst allowed econveyance users to receive mortgage instructions directly and electronically from lenders. OneMove’s efforts in British Columbia were proving successful. For the quarter ended December 31, 2007, revenue from British Columbia had increased by 112% compared to the same period the previous year. However, OneMove UK’s operations continued to suffer losses. As a result, in March 2008, OneMove sold 100% of OneMove UK to a director of the company.
As OneMove's technology matured, so did its strategic approach to market growth. By 2009, the company had established a three-pronged strategy focused on expanding its user base, increasing revenue per transaction, and growing transaction volumes. This strategy was particularly timely, as the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia began pushing for mandatory electronic filing of conveyance documents, a move that aligned perfectly with OneMove’s capabilities and market position.
The real estate market in British Columbia continued to evolve, with electronic transactions rapidly gaining ground. By 2010, approximately 50% of real estate transactions were completed online, with OneMove’s econveyance platform facilitating a significant portion of these transactions. This growth was accompanied by the release of econveyancePro, a fully upgraded, cloud-based version of the platform that offered significant enhancements and new features.
OneMove’s success in British Columbia laid the foundation for its expansion into other Canadian provinces. In November 2010, OneMove launched a preliminary version of its econveyance software in Alberta, the third-largest real estate market in Canada. This expansion was a critical step in OneMove's strategy to replicate its success across other provinces. The Alberta version of econveyance was specifically tailored to the local market, and early trials showed strong potential for growth. A full production release of the software occurred on January 4, 2011.
By 2011, OneMove had firmly established itself as a leader in the digital conveyancing market in British Columbia. Its user base had grown to over 3,200 registered users, representing more than 550 firms across 85 cities and towns. The proportion of real estate transactions completed online continued to rise, with OneMove’s customers accounting for approximately 50% of all electronically filed documents in the province. This growing dominance underscored the effectiveness of OneMove’s strategy and the increasing reliance on its platform by real estate professionals.
OneMove Financials & KPIs: 2007 to 2011
