In real estate, making sound investment and development decisions is more complex than ever due to rapidly changing urban environments and a flood of scattered, often disconnected data sources. CHAOS, a Helsinki-based startup established in 2017, has stepped in to address these challenges.
Through its AI-powered location intelligence platform, the company gathers and processes extensive geospatial and urban data, transforming complexity into clear insights. Their platform enables real estate professionals to validate rent prices, benchmark sites, simulate investment scenarios, and manage assets through data-driven workflows.
Today, this Finnish startup just raised €2 million to accelerate its expansion across the Nordics and DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). The round includes funding from Nidoco, the company’s largest investor, and Finnvera, a state-owned financing company in Finland.
The new capital will help the Finnish company further develop its AI-driven decision-making tools, which aim to transform how real estate investors, developers, and retailers use data to guide strategy, manage risk, and plan growth.
Turning data into human-centred real estate decisions
CHAOS was co-founded by CEO Natalia Rincón-Eriksson and COO Paloma Bautista Sánchez, both bringing experience in urban technology, research, and community engagement. Natalia has also contributed as a lecturer and researcher at Aalto University, enriching her expertise in smart urban solutions.
Rincón-Eriksson told TFN, “It all started from personal experience. As an architect who’s lived and worked across different countries, I kept seeing the same gap — cities and developments were being planned around buildings, not around people. Real estate has always said ‘location, location, location,’ but what truly defines a location is the life and demand created by its people.
There was no tool, no system that could capture this human perspective. Architects were doing endless micro-level research manually, trying to understand places beyond maps and market stats. With my background in computer science and years leading tech teams at IBM and EDS, I saw a clear opportunity — if we could harness data and technology to understand how people experience places, we could design and build communities that truly work for everyone.
That’s how CHAOS was born — from the belief that data and empathy together can reshape how we build our cities.”
Integrating data sources with AI and data science techniques
CHAOS’s platform stands out by integrating diverse data sources, including demographics, mobility patterns, business metrics, neighbourhood growth, and infrastructure, with AI and data science techniques. The platform offers predictive analytics and actionable recommendations tailored for every phase of the property lifecycle, from site selection to eventual divestment.
Rincón-Eriksson elaborated, “Our technology stands out because it supports the entire real estate value chain, from strategy to execution, in one seamless, AI-powered workflow. We help our customers work smarter and faster through intuitive dashboards, automated reports, and intelligent assistants — all designed for real estate professionals, not data scientists.”
Key features include a no-code interface that welcomes users of all technical backgrounds, simulation tools to forecast project outcomes, and AI-driven decision support that redefines workflow efficiency.
Unlike traditional tools limited to data presentation, CHAOS delivers an all-in-one solution combining urban planning insights, real estate analytics, and crowdsourced data in a sustainable, inclusive framework.
What’s next?
With their recent funding round complete, CHAOS is set to broaden its platform’s impact across the Nordics and DACH markets, targeting a wide array of real estate professionals. Future enhancements will include deeper predictive capabilities, expansion of data sources, and new modules tailored to evolving urban conditions.
Rincón-Eriksson concludes, “Our mission is to reinvent the real estate industry by democratizing data. Over the next three to five years, our goal is to become Europe’s leading business intelligence platform for the real estate industry: the go-to source for people-driven insights that shape smarter, more sustainable cities.
We’re building a future where data isn’t locked away for a few, but empowers everyone in the value chain, from investors and developers to the communities living in these places. “
And how is it being a woman in tech?
Rincón-Eriksson shares with TFN, “I studied both architecture and computer science — so from the start, I was used to being one of the few women in the room. In my classes, seeing a woman in engineering or tech was rare, and in many ways, that hasn’t changed much. Real estate and startups are still heavily male-dominated industries. But I was raised in a deeply feminist home, where I was taught that I belong anywhere I choose to be.
That mindset — maybe even that ignorance toward barriers of gender or nationality — has been one of my greatest assets. I’ve never led with the idea of being a woman, a Latina, or an immigrant founder; I’ve just led. But I do recognise how rare it still is to see someone like me — a Latina woman immigrant — building something in this space. I’m the minority of minorities.
What I want to see change is this: success shouldn’t be defined or rewarded because of gender, but because of excellence. The best should be the best, period. And we, as women, shouldn’t feel the need to become “one of the guys” to belong. I see many women suppressing parts of themselves — not wearing makeup, changing how they speak, or trying to blend in — because femininity is still seen as a weakness.
I don’t believe in that. Strength has many colours. We don’t need to be someone else to succeed — we just need to be ourselves. Everyone has a purpose, and the more authentically we show up, the more powerful we become.”
