NYC Real Estate Tech Week is taking place in November, from the 11th through the 15th. All the details are here.
The MIPIM PropTech Summit, a collaboration between MIPIM and MetaProp NYC, is a big part of the programming during the week to unite key real estate decision makers from all sectors and technology companies to take their business to the next level and build the future of real estate.
Logistics:
Dates: November 12th and 13th
Venue: Metropolitan Pavilion & Altman Building (125 & 135 W 18th Street)
2019’s Theme: Matching user expectations
As part of the 2019 theme, ‘Matching User Expectations’, they are looking through two prisms: that of the user of the city (the citizen) and that of the user of the building (the occupier). Responding to individual user expectations is challenging. The first step is to understand the priorities of citizens and occupiers. Then, to identify the changes needed to improve services and to make them innovative, reactive, accessible and transparent.
Key questions are:
How do we align the short-term demands of users, and the fast-changing nature of technology, with the long-term strategies of the private and public sectors?
What does it mean to be user focused, to be customer centric?
How can proptech help the public and private sectors have a better understanding of the needs of users?
How can we build a strong user-centric differentiator strategy, to develop unique products for different users?
Here’s the entire agenda and the PDF program can be had here.
MetaProp is hiring a Senior Associate for Startup Services.
Responsibilities:
As Startup Services lead you will manage/coordinate the firm’s startup support strategy and operational execution across MetaProp’s global portfolio. These activities require regular interaction with all MetaProp partners, employees and numerous external stakeholders.
Portfolio support strategy, development, and reporting
Own the Startup Services strategy map
Take a lead role in database management, tracking, case study development and internal/external reporting on outcomes
Regularly ideating and testing new initiatives for portfolio support
Sourcing and building a robust database of corporate/potential customer relationships
Startup onboarding and ongoing support
1:1 onboarding with each new portfolio company upon close of an investment
Coordinating and project managing to completion all inbound requests for startup support
Proactively suggesting value add, bespoke connections and opportunities to existing and prospective portfolio companies
Managing the MetaProp expert and talent networks
Startup programming/events
Managing and improving the MetaProp Accelerator at Columbia University program
Managing and improving the MetaProp Entrepreneur Resource Group (“ERG”) programs
Facilitating startup success at NYC Real Estate Tech Week and at PropTech Place
Representing MetaProp at industry events
Sourcing new startups, investors, advisors and partners into the firm’s network
Generally keeping a pulse on the PropTech community
General
Furthering MetaProp’s position as a thought leader in the PropTech market by contributing to thesis development and authoring and publishing market research and opinions.
Upholding the firm’s core values of diversity, integrity, affordability/sustainability and entrepreneurship
Assist with other business activities as directed by the Managing Partner
Interested?
Learn More
[Editor’s note: Job postings are available to any member of the Geek Estate Mastermind.]
The New York-based Bowery Valuation has just announced Series A funding in the amount of $12 million to further its technology-powered real estate appraisal platform. According to the announcement, Bowery raised the capital from Builders VC, Camber Creek, Corigin Ventures, Fika Ventures, and Navitas Capital.
Bowery Valuation makes technology that appraisers can use to streamline and make more effective their efforts. A mobile app, for instance, enables users to check off items without having to write down details. As ordinary as this function may sound, it’s surprising nobody else thought of creating tech before Bowery. This app even pulls data from the cloud so appraisers don’t have to surf to find it.
There’s also natural language capability that helps users generate reports. The company narrative says the technology-driven innovations “modernize the appraisal process,” and considering pencils and paper are still the “go to” tools of appraisers… Well, the best innovations are the simplest ones, and Bowery’s team seems to have reinvented the appraisal wheel. Jim Kim, General Partner of Builders VC, and lead investor offered this statement via BusinessWire:
“Bowery brings a whole new way of thinking around appraisals and efficiency when it comes to using technology in the antiquated world of real estate valuation. Builders VC is thrilled to be investing in this team and company, applying a modern mindset and technology to an outdated industry.”
Moving forward, Bowery Valuation is now rolling out a white-label version of the aforementioned app for customers and is expanding outside the company’s original licensing areas in the Eastern U.S. Bowery Valuation has moved out of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Conneticut, into L.A. and Chicago, with other markets in coming into range. Co-founder Noah Isaacs, told reporters his company wants to be in either Los Angeles or Chicago in the next few months. Isaacs told reporters Bowery has tripled its customer base since March of 2018. Bowery Valuation is currently focused on multi-family and mixed-use assets, but the company has plans to expand to other commercial properties in 2019, according to Isaacs.
Isaacs and his childhood pal John Meadows, founded Bowery back in 2015 after the duo worked together at the same appraisal firm in New York. Bowery is based on the vast experience the two gleaned from working in the business, and improvements the founders knew would make a difference for appraisers. Joining the co-founders, Princeton economics wiz, Cesar Devers came aboard as CTO before the three got accepted to the startup accelerator MetaProp NYC.
In the past year alone, Bowery has raised a total of $17 million, tripled its client base, revenue, and headcount, and valued more than $3 billion in commercial real estate. Bowery is now working extensively with top-tier lenders and operating in New York, New Jersey,
Phil Butler is a former engineer, contractor, and telecommunications professional who is editor of several influential online media outlets including part owner of Pamil Visions with wife Mihaela. Phil began his digital ramblings via several of the world’s most noted tech blogs, at the advent of blogging as a form of journalistic license. Phil is currently top interviewer, and journalist at Realty Biz News.
90 percent of the real estate professionals reading this report will understand that the leveraging of property technology (PropTech) to research, buy, sell and manage real estate, is the future. This report is to help the other 10 percent and to validate what most industry professionals already know.
The PropTech 101
Before diving into the deep end of PropTech investing, it’s important
to define what this new wave of PropTech incorporates. Advancements in the way
real estate professionals process data are not new, you see. However, the
breaking technologies that have powered up almost all business are set to take off toward a new paradigm. Artificial
intelligence (AI), Big Data analytics, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality, and more advanced forms of computer-aided
design (CAD) are the main areas of the innovative shift. 20 years ago such
technologies were considered science fiction, but today PropTech startups are
addressing everything from fixing a tenant’s leaking faucet to industry
insights and more. Make no mistake, PropTech is not only here, but it’s also
becoming as indispensable as the telephone. If you are among the 10 percent, who think your real estate related
business can operate without these new technologies, imagine running your store
with no phone.
PropTech Investment Barometer
The latest Global PropTech Confidence Index published by New York VC
firm MetaProp reveals the robustness of the investor segment. The report also
frames the overall maturity of the startup ecosystem from data gleaned from
over 500 investors across 1,600 startups. The twice-per-year index also shows
that 60% of PropTech investors surveyed plan to invest even more in 2019. With
2018 seeing the most investment ever, this vote of confidence is a significant
litmus test. Even with a mixed bag of geo-policy and economic factors weighing
on investors, confidence in the segment still runs very high. There are several
reasons for this including the quality of investment pitches VC receive. The
“maturity” of innovation is reflective of the overall quality advancements
innovators are creating. Take so-called “smart buildings,” as a for instance.
In a report for Forbes, real estate innovator, and entrepreneur,
Angelica Krystle Donati predicted coming investments in segments aligned with
“direct synergies on the concept of “smart cities,” such as AI, IoT, cybersecurity, mobility, and e-commerce.” Her
prediction is in line with the more than one-third of major investors who feel
smart building tech will take off. The PropTech innovations are like a snowball
set to roll over and snatch up anything in their path. The investment landscape
mirrors what happened in the mid-2000s with internet technologies and phones.
Maturing Globally
Then there is the revelation that PropTech sector is maturing. This
is best illustrated by the fact there is a sharp division in winners and losers
in the space. Just as was the case in the Web 2.0 era, the cream of innovation
and value is rising to the top, while the rest end up in what became known as
“the dead pool” of technology startups. The best become profitable, and the
useless, underfunded, or ill-planned startups end up bankrupt. In such a
metamorphosis we can expect these big winners to make the next logical step –
to become international companies.
News from Italian proptech startup Casavo is a subtle indicator that
PropTech winners will scale globally. The with the goal of decreasing the time
it takes to sell a property just snagged a €7 million Series A round from
Berlin-based Project A Ventures, Picus Capital, 360 Capital Partners, Kervis
Asset Management, Boost Heroes, alongside Marco Pescarmona and Rancilio Cube.
At its core, Casava creates a simplified transaction process leveraging the Instant Buyer
(iBuyer) model in combination with an s automated valuation engine. The
valuation/offer process is greatly streamlined, with the seller receiving a
full cash payment with a month. Casavo’s
automated valuation engine factors in 70 plus variables to provide the seller
with a fair market value for their property – and a buy offer is presented.
There are many other examples.
Now, let’s say the
Casavo model takes off across Europe. This will create a lot of competition,
and things like the negative aspects of the iBuyer model will squeeze Casava
and other early adopters. What will fill the value void? This is the big
question. You see, the downside of iBuyer models are the losses suffered
on account of commissions and discounts built in. The quick and easy sale is at
the expense of the seller and not the agents or intermediaries. Here’s where
the competition comes in, a competition that will be won by big players like
Zillow and the other U.S. players. The end of the story will be innovators like
Casavo innovating and finding an exit runway with a huge profit, or failing to
innovate and going bankrupt.
Invest in Collaboration
Modernizing the transaction process technologies like AI, AR, CAD,
and VR are allowing potential buyers to visualize without even visiting the
property. The homebuyer can even us CAD and VR alongside Big Data analytics to
check demographics, tax incentives, neighborhood statistics, and local
amenities without ever leaving their reclining living room chair. Agents can
use intelligent machines and big data to streamline
much of the traditional transaction process further, and even match
investors to a property type, etc. The list of potential PropTech uses is as
long as the list of tasks agents, buyers, and sellers have in front of them. At
the end of the day, PropTech relieves many pain points encountered by both real
estate professionals and potential buyers – and investors know this. That’s why
the investing trend is the barometer for PropTech adaptors.
Finally, this report from KPMG in 2017
reveals how real estate professionals can integrate PropTech and bride the gap
between the “built” and the digital environment. The research confirms that Big
Data and analytics will reap the biggest rewards for adopters, but the IoT that
will power smart buildings comes in second, followed by AI innovations. Those
surveyed also validate that streamlined process and improved decision making
are at the top of the list of benefits real estate businesses will receive from
these innovative technologies. What most striking about this 2017 study is the
fact that collaborative PropTech ventures are the key to success in adaptation.
What this means is, “build your own” solutions will no longer work, not even
for the huge players like Zillow. In the end, a collaboration between real
estate and technology players will be the future. Almost half of the leading
real estate decision makers surveyed by said they would collaborate with a new
or existing supplier of PropTech.
Phil Butler is a former engineer, contractor, and telecommunications professional who is editor of several influential online media outlets including part owner of Pamil Visions with wife Mihaela. Phil began his digital ramblings via several of the world’s most noted tech blogs, at the advent of blogging as a form of journalistic license. Phil is currently top interviewer, and journalist at Realty Biz News.
[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: MetaProp.]
Founded in 2015 by Zach Aarons and Aaron Block in New York, MetaProp is one of the world’s most established venture capital firms focused exclusively on the prop tech sector. They invest at the early stage, with check sizes from $25,000 to $3 million.
The portfolio includes more than 120 companies, which have raised more than $2 billion and employ 1,500+ people. PadSplit, Briq, and HqO are among those that have collectively exceeded $2 billion in funding with 8 successful exits. With over $110 million dispersed over three funds, they are seeking to raise $200 million for their fourth and largest fund, the MetaProp Growth Select I, to invest larger checks in later-stage companies.
MetaProp’s 22 week accelerator program and eight week pre-accelerator program are operated in partnership with Columbia University, and provide access to the RE200 mentor network of over 80 C suite real-estate professionals along with other benefits.
Represented in the GEM: Aaron Block
What we like: With over 15 billion square feet of property, MetaProp’s limited partners often serve as crucial initial customers for portfolio companies in need of distribution to fuel growth. It’s great to see its partnership with Enterprise Community Partners to help address the housing affordability crisis
Two of members of the GEM, Aaron Block and Elie Finegold at MetaProp, are looking to hire a Venture Capital Principal for the firm, a Senior Family Office Salesperson, and a Senior Institutional Investor Salesperson.
About the Positions:
NYC/Remote based full-time work
Base + Commission (sales roles)+ Carry
Principal: Opportunity to help lead MetaProp’s early-stage venture capital investment program from lead deal flow through execution. Provides portfolio support and community engagement when necessary as a representative of MetaProp. The ideal candidate has 5-10 years of venture capital or other relevant experience.
Senior Family Office Salesperson: Will have the opportunity to help build out the Family Office partnerships via relationship sourcing and management across the globe, with a focus on registered investment advisors (RIAs), single-family offices, multi-family offices, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the United States. The ideal candidate has 3-8 years of experience at investment management or wealth management firm in a client-facing capacity with a willingness to travel extensively if required.
Senior Institutional Investor Salesperson: Will be responsible for investment relationships with clients around the globe, with a focus on endowments and foundations in the United States. This hire will assist with mapping the addressable investor market, developing new business opportunities, territory management, and ongoing client service to hit individual sales targets. The ideal candidate has 3-8 years of experience at a buy-side investment firm, an institutional consulting firm, or placement agent in a client-facing capacity with a willingness to travel extensively if required.
Interested? Check out the MetaProp.vc/careers for more information.
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