Linkbase is an AI SaaS platform that helps vacation rental property managers to automate and scale their rental portfolio. Linkbase, through its series of integrations with major smart lock companies including Salto, Schlage, and Yale, as well as major property management software like Hostaway, Guesty, and many others, helps property managers automate the entire check-in and check-out process on the go.
When was your organization founded and what is its origin story?
Linkbase was founded in 2021 by friends and now co-founders Shiven Vinod Khera and Brandon Caiza, who were still completing their undergraduate degrees at UBCO in Management and Computer Science, respectively. Caiza had a school project where he aimed to connect a microcontroller to the cloud to control it via his phone. However, he faced many challenges in achieving this. Connecting to the cloud is complex and involves many steps, so Khera and Caiza thought it would be a great idea to create an IoT platform that would allow developers to easily connect any microcontroller to the cloud. This platform would enable developers to connect to the cloud in a much more streamlined fashion, rather than spending weeks writing code to achieve the same result.
Linkbase pitched this idea at the university’s incubator and won prize money to get started. However, Khera and Caiza soon realized that while the platform was a compelling concept, University research is different from effectively marketing and selling the product in the market. They decided to explore the Okanagan region to find the best use case for their platform. Khera and Caiza discovered that short-term rental property managers were particularly interested. These managers faced the inconvenience of manually changing door codes every time a guest checked out and wanted a solution that could integrate their existing smart locks with booking platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.
That’s how Linkbase’s journey began; the company has since expanded beyond Kelowna and now features properties from all over North America on their platform.
How has your product or service developed/evolved over time?
The product started as an automated door lock solution that integrated major smart lock hardware with all major booking platforms, enabling automated door locks to reset automatically for every single guest. Over time, it has evolved into an AI-driven Guest Experience platform that helps property managers not only automate their locks and lobby access but also collect valuable guest information for long-term value and direct repeat bookings.
Looking to the future, what is the future of your organization as it relates to the Central Okanagan?
Linkbase plans to expand globally, starting with North America, by onboarding property managers. The platform is enhancing its capabilities to meet the needs of property managers and aims to scale to as many property managers as possible across the continent.
What made you choose the Central Okanagan for your business?
Both Khera and Caiza were undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO), so they started the company in Kelowna while still attending UBCO.
Do you have any partnerships with community organizations, post-secondary institutions, or other organizations that you’d like to share?
They work closely with UBCO. Linkbase found E@UBCO to be a delight to work with, providing them mentorship and guidance over the years.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your business?
With Linkbase’s recent partnership with CIBO Solutions earlier this year, the platform has added automated lobby access capabilities. CIBO is another company coincidentally based in the Central Okanagan, and both companies were connected by Accelerate Okanagan.
Since then, Linkbase and CIBO have joined forces, collaborating to grow their client base across North America.
Khera was a recipient of Kelowna’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2022 and served as Vice President of the UBCO Students’ Union during his university years.
Story and pictures were submitted by Shiven Vinod Khera, Linkbase Technologies Inc
