The most expensive purchase many people will ever make still depends on a process that looks like it belongs to another decade.
Behind the polished apps and digital closings that define modern real estate, title verification often comes down to fragmented county records, manual checks, and timelines that stretch for days.
That disconnect is what drew attention this week to Miami-based Titl, which today announced a $2.5 million seed round led by Cofounders Capital and FIT Ventures.
The vision: to modernize title search and property verification using AI and a tamper-resistant blockchain ledger.
Property records in the U.S. are scattered across thousands of local jurisdictions, each with its own systems and standards. That fragmentation makes title research slow, inconsistent, and hard to verify on demand. It also means problems often surface late in the process, when a deal is already under contract and pressure is highest.
“We set out to find an extremely niche, inefficient process where we could create a significant impact and the title process was it,” said Ori Ohayon, co-founder of Titl, in a statement. “Titl is unifying property ownership verification and transfer through a centralized, digitized U.S. registry. We’re not digitizing yesterday’s workflow, we’re reimagining ownership for the digital age.”
Ohayon’s background helps explain that focus. Before founding Titl, he worked on web3-enabled solutions at Goldman Sachs and TD Securities, seeing firsthand how legacy systems slow down high-stakes financial activity. His co-founder, real estate developer Tory Ricalis, came at the problem from the other side of the table, after dealing with the friction of property transactions on the ground. Together, they aimed their efforts at the part of real estate most people only think about when something goes wrong.
And things do go wrong. Real estate-related cybercrime and title fraud have become a growing concern as transactions move online. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report, reported losses tied to real estate crime reached $173,586,820 in 2024. Manual, paper-based records create openings for forged documents, identity theft, and ownership disputes, risks that tend to surface too late to fix cleanly.
Titl’s platform, which launched in 2022, is built to change that timing. Its software automates title search, surfaces key issues like liens, taxes, permits, and code violations, and then keeps watching the record after the report is done. Instead of a static snapshot taken days before closing, the company offers continuous monitoring designed to flag changes as they happen.
“We are thrilled to invest in this technology and team. AI-powered applications like this create real demonstrable value for customers and investors,” said David Gardner, founding partner at Cofounders Capital, shared.
“FIT Ventures is excited to join the founders of Titl on their journey to help modernize an antiquated industry as they build new, essential infrastructure for American land registries,” added Brian Becker, partner at FIT Ventures.
The timing also matters. While Titl is headquartered in downtown Miami, the company is already looking beyond Florida. Expansion plans include Georgia, Maryland, and Connecticut, with a broader goal of reaching roughly 20 states by the end of 2026.
Pictured above: Titl’s co-founders Tory Ricalis, CEO, at left, and President Ori Ohayon.
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I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.
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