Property repair claims platform Handdii has secured $US3 million ($4 million) in seed funding, in its first institutional round.

The round was led by San Francisco-based Brick & Mortar Ventures, and attracted participation from Nine Four Ventures, Melbourne-based Scale Investors and Fifty-Second Celebration.

Founded by industry veterans Kathryn Wood and Christie Downs three years ago, Handdii describes itself as a “three-sided marketplace” connecting customers directly with pre-vetted, highly rated local contractors on behalf of insurance companies.

Handdii has partnered with Allianz in Australia and insurtech Hippo Insurance Services in the US.

The funding will be used to bolster Handdii's team of software engineers, expand contractor networks in both the US and Australia and invest in strategic integrations, including Guidewire ClaimCenter Ready for Guidewire app.

"We are delighted to have ... Brick and Mortar and Nine Four join Handdii as we solidify and expand our operations both in the United States and Australia,” said Ms Wood, who formerly led the Motor and Property Claims division at QBE.

Co-founder Ms Downs was sales director at Johns Lyng Group for 11 years and was also GM Business Development at Carlton Football Club.

The platform promises to significantly reduce the length of a claim and remove the “hassle” of insurance work for contractors. After rollouts in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, the partnership with California-based Hippo, established a year ago, has seen Handdii successfully service claims in selected US cities for minor repairs like water leaks, exterior leak damage and general equipment breakdown.

Claims are closed in an average of 14 days inclusive of mitigation and reconstruction and there is a strong pipeline of new customers set to launch in 2021, it says.

“An exciting new chapter for Handdii has begun,” the company said. “We are all set to roll-out our national expansion across both the United States and Australia.”

Brick and Mortar Ventures founder and MD Darren Bechtel says the role of the contractor is critical in the property damage claims experience as they work at the “front line of the insurer's customer interface” and the Handdii platform streamlines insurer requirements, freeing contractors to deliver “an outstanding homeowner experience while performing repair work”.