How House Beat turned early traction into a better homeownership system.
When Susan Shao, Co-Founder & CTO of Metronome (now House Beat) stepped onto DMZ’s Women Innovation Summit (WIS) stage in March 2025, the product was live, homeowners were using it, and early traction was clear. But like many early-stage founders, the team knew scaling required tapping into new opportunities.
One year later, House Beat has expanded into new markets and repositioned itself as a platform that helps homeowners and insurance carriers prevent costly issues before they escalate.
The pitch that closed the gap.
At WIS, Susan pitched House Beat’s vision for proactive homeownership, grounded in real traction from the consumer market.
She secured $100,000 in investment from DMZ Ventures, which closed out the company’s raise and empowered them with the breathing room to expand. Within weeks, the team put that capital to work and by spring, House Beat brought on additional sales support and began focused outreach to expand its B2B offerings through insurance carriers.
Listening harder and pivoting with intention.
As conversations with insurers took place, one reality became clear: claims costs have surged, now ten to twelve times higher than in the 2010s. House Beat uncovered what happens when homeowners aren’t supported early and how preventable failures ripple across insurers and municipalities alike. As Paul Crowe, Co-Founder of House Beat put simply:
“When homes fall behind, everyone pays. Avoidable insurance claims increase. Cities miss their climate and resiliency targets. Energy efficiency stalls. Surprise repairs hit homeowner wallets. Insurance premiums rise.”
With claims rising, municipal budgets strained, and responsibility shifting to homeowners, House Beat evolved from a homeowner-first product into a systemic solution - aligning homeowners, insurers, and public institutions around proactive home health. By fall, House Beat’s B2B pilots validated both their direction and demand.
What Susan took from WIS beyond the cheque.
For Susan, WIS was about more than capital. “As a technical founder, the summit offered hands-on support where it mattered most: pitch practice and direct insight into how investors evaluate opportunity and risk.
Just as importantly, WIS created space for connection. Founder dinners led to relationships that continued beyond the event, including early conversations around collaboration with other women founders.”
WIS 2026: Going all-in, together.
House Beat’s journey is exactly why DMZ is going all-in for WIS 2026.
This year’s summit isn’t about rehashing the challenges women founders already know too well. It’s about action over awareness, spotlighting what’s being built, what’s changing and who’s actually backing the work.
WIS 2026 is designed for founders who are building in real time and are seeking real backing not theatrics and it’s for partners across government and industry who understand that meaningful progress happens when decisions, funding and systems move together.
If you're a woman founder in Canada looking to take the stage at the Women Innovation Summit on March 19, applications to pitch are still open. Apply today at dmz.to/wis-26.
