That is what the real estate industry is looking for right now.”Īnd that is driving the amount of funding infused into these companies. “This crisis is different, and the tools provide a mix of better data, greater control, more adaptability and better customer experiences. “They represent a toolkit for the real estate industry to dig into right now as it looks for ways to adapt more quickly and on a greater scale,” Schwarzman said. Proptech venture firm MetaProp NYC‘s General Partner Zak Schwarzman went a step further and described what has happened over the last decade as “an explosion” of companies. Not only are there dozens of venture capital firms that have begun investing in the sector over the past three years, but for a while, he felt that 12 new proptech companies were launched every week. It may be difficult to predict how things will shape up in the long term, but Connell McGill, co-founder and CEO of New York-based Enertiv, told me that proptech continues to thrive. “With this crisis unfolding, our sector will definitely need to have a deeper think about automating processes through the use of machines, which should produce higher accuracy work, and at the same time, allow humans to work remotely.” “Our saving grace is really the fact that as a tech company, we have always embraced and encouraged the use of technology, automation and remote working, and therefore have been able to navigate the crisis quite well in terms of management of team members,” she said. Ohmyhome helps people view homes virtually, see only a few in-person and then facilitate the purchase through legal professionals, Wong said. The proptech momentum driving the sector through COVID-19 will be products and services that save people time and money, she said. The proptech industry is massive, and the disruption to each vertical is different, Rhonda Wong, CEO and co-founder of Singapore-based property marketplace Ohmyhome, told Crunchbase News via email. Will proptech’s momentum help it through COVID-19? reported that the 5-year-old company has now raised more than 60 million Euros. Just as fintech grew out of the 2007-08 economic downturn, they say the COVID-19 pandemic gives proptech companies an opportunity to show how they can help.Īnd investors are paying attention: On Monday, digital brokerage startup Homeday, based in Berlin, secured 40 million Euros (US$45.3 million) in funding from Axel Springer and Purplebricks. While traditional offices and home tours aren’t going away, people are re-examining how they will go about doing things in a post-COVID 19 world.Įxperts told me that real estate technology, also known as proptech, can provide the innovative answers needed to solve post-pandemic challenges and changes in the real estate landscape, on both the commercial and residential sides.

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