Technology has no borders.

It is widely accepted that the Real Estate industry is going through significant changes with innovation being the catalyst and technology the means for bringing us into this new and exciting digital era. Somewhat late to the scene, and following on from the successful revolutions in other sectors, the term PropTech has very quickly embedded itself into all key conversations surrounding the future of the Real Estate industry. At such an early stage, while it is not yet evident which of these new solutions will become the next big thing and which will be stored away perhaps for another day, one thing is clear, fundamentally disruptive and commercially viable ideas will have no geographical borders.

Emerging verticals. 

Across the globe, PropTech events and webinars are almost a daily occurrence now. Attending these events will give you an opportunity to speak to some of the founders and innovators, who are rapidly bringing around fundamental changes to the real estate industry. These professionals come from all over the world to showcase their ideas to their peers, investors and potential clients. Artificial intelligence, Big data, digitalisation, VR and Blockchain are just some of the current hot topics, and solutions in these fields are predicted to make a great impact in what has always been a rather stale and predictable space. There has been no shortage of headlines about massive amounts of capital being poured into PropTech, and considering how quickly companies are now managing to bring their ideas to the market, the key question of change is surely one of “when” rather than “if”.

Commercial Real Estate

Even at such an early stage, integration is becoming another hot topic with the main commercial Real Estate software companies carefully aligning themselves with other leading platforms. A good example of this is Coyote Software, a UK based company who help investment managers and asset managers to make better decisions in buying and managing commercial assets based on clean live data. Coyote treats integration as one of their very significant features and a definite unique selling point. These cross border partnerships and vertical integrations are based on the belief that being a part of an ecosystem of integrated systems increases the value of Coyote’s core product.

Residential Real Estate

At the residential end of the market AI technology is already being used to learn and efficiently navigate user searches and take customers through a funnel keeping them engaged at all stages of the process. AI driven room rental platform Badi offers users a ‘Tinder like’ experience in finding ideal house mates in the most stress free and fun way. High demand for accommodation in major cities and lack of easy ways to find them has created the perfect conditions for Badi to attract funding and go global within only four years. Badi is a Spanish based company who are currently one of the fastest growing PropTech startups in Europe and already have their sights set on the Asian markets.

PropTech is a global phenomenon with international expansion on the agenda for most VC backed startups. In the current environment where innovation is happening all across the globe it is no longer the case of great ideas only coming from Silicon Valley. Tomorrow’s Real Estate industry will be dominated by companies from all parts of the globe, with PropTech companies who have successfully managed to grow while realising the value of integrating with the local providers.