April kicked off the second quarter of 2022, and with it the proptech market saw a number of funding rounds and product launches focused on mortgage processing and environmental reporting.
While there was still a significant amount of activity related to property management and rental services, it seems that the approval of Desktop Appraisals and Earth Day-inspired news made this past month a bit different than the previous few.
Key highlights of this ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) trend included the launch of Measurabl’s real estate ESG monitoring platform and RET Ventures‘ new ESG-focused Housing Impact Fund.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac‘s recent permanent approval of desktop appraisals also caused a series of product launches and partnerships, highlighted by MISMO’s new e-Eligibility exchange and Diakrit‘s recent acquisition of real estate visual asset firm Virtuance.
The news doesn’t stop there. Below I’ve listed the biggest stories, news and activity around proptech industry for April.
Enjoy this month’s PropTech Retrospect.
Property Management/Smart home
- Dwellwell emerges from stealth with $12M seed for its property “Check Engine Light” AI sensor technology: “Dwellwell is attempting to provide landlords with a “Check Engine Light” for residential properties. Dwellwell accomplishes this with a single device, plugged into the wall, that is filled with sensors and uses artificial intelligence to monitor a home’s health and maintenance needs.” (Apr. 6)
- RentRedi raises $12M Series A, plans to scale landlord rental and management software: “Originally created by Ryan as a way to make finding and signing apartments easier for renters, the product soon evolved when he saw the complicated, manual processes that landlords were handling on their end.” (Apr. 13)
- PassiveLogic raises $15 million from Brookfield Growth (Apr. 12)
- Serendipity Labs announces flexible office proptech subsidiary (Apr. 19)
- Stonal raises $22M, hires Robin Rivaton as CEO to expand in Europe: “The company says its proprietary AI-powered applications read, checks and sorts all data, documents and plans, and is open to an unlimited number of employees, supplier and partners.” (Apr. 27)
- Home energy monitoring firm Sense just raised $105M (Apr. 27, TechCrunch)
Real Estate/Property Investment
- JLL leads $15M funding round for portfolio management proptech Re-Leased: “The company says it will use the funding to continue its international growth plans and to develop and release new software products and partnerships.” (Apr. 29)
- Arturo launches portfolio-level property insurance risk engine (Apr. 4)
- Playhouse announces $2.8M seed for “TikTok” real estate search platform (Apr. 5)
- Splitero raises $5.8M, launches home equity platform: “Founded by two fintech veterans, CEO Michael Gifford and COO David Zvaifler, the company seeks to help consumers combat inflation and rising home expenses with their home equity through lump-sum cash transactions in exchange for a share of their home’s appreciation.” (Apr. 12)
- Thirty Capital launches mid-market CRE data management platform (Apr. 19)
- Leasecake raises $12M Series A for lease and location management (Apr. 25)
- HomePace raises $7M from Lennar for home equity product: “HomePace says the funds will drive expansion to new markets through community bank partnerships and will be used to launch a new homebuyer solution. HomePace says this solution will provide homebuyers with funds upfront for their down payment when purchasing a home, in exchange for sharing a portion of the home’s future value.” (Apr. 27)
- Offerd unveils Acquisition-as-a-Service platform upgrades (Apr. 29)
- Real-estate startup Immo scoops up single-family homes from sellers then turns them into rental investments (Apr. 12, Business Insider)
Rentals/Letting
- TheGuarantors raises $50M Series C, plans to supplement rental services with new products: “TheGuarantors targets millions of American households nationwide, stating that 46 million rental households have a collective $65 billion locked away in security deposits. … The company also noted that, despite turbulence in the market from COVID, it was able to triple revenue in 2021.” (Apr. 25)
- Casai acquires vendor LoopKey to ensure hardware supply for guest access tech (Apr. 4)
- Beanstock raises $12.9M Series A for buy-to-let marketplace (Apr. 15)
- Gravy launches with $2.6 million seed to help renters save money for first home: “The startup’s flagship feature, Gravy Rewards, enables members to earn 5% of their rent each month to put towards their future home purchase, with funds stored in a digital rewards wallet that can only be redeemed for the purchase of a house.” (Apr. 26)
- PropTech Startup Tour24 Closes $5.6M Series A (Apr. 5)
Lending
- Blend Network secures $156M for Origination-as-a-Service initiative: “Not to be confused with U.S.-based digital lending platform Blend, which provides end-to-end digital mortgage and consumer banking technology, Blend Network provides developers with loans to ensure builders have liquidity need to complete projects.” (Apr. 11)
- Kiavi closes $271M revolving securitization (Apr. 7)
- Asteroom launches desktop appraisal data collection service (Apr. 20)
- MISMO unveils e-Eligibility exchange, powered by Snapdocs: “MISMO says that while the number of digital mortgage closings continues to rise, industry-wide adoption has been slowed by the lack of transparency into electronic closings.” (Apr. 14)
- Virtual real estate brokerage Radius raises $13M in Series A funding (Apr. 27, Inman)
- SitusAMC launches new tech for warehouse lenders (Apr. 4)
- Black Knight is exploring a sale: report (Apr. 6)
- Propy and Abra team up for crypto-backed home loans (Apr. 29)
ESG/Smart home
- Measurabl launches ESG Real Estate Data product: “Measurabl says the product accomplishes this by providing more than 70 data points on individual assets, including green building certifications, local ordinances, climate risk data, energy and carbon estimates, and company-level performance indicators.” (Apr. 1)
- Catalyze announces joint clean energy partnership with Stream Realty Partners (Apr. 22)
VC Funds News
- RET Ventures launches ESG-focused Housing Impact Fund: “The large real estate tech investment firm also noted that an important goal of the fund will be broadening the sector’s approach to ESG, utilizing a more holistic focus that addresses climate change and environmental risks.” (Apr. 22)
M&A News
- Redfin closes $138M deal for mortgage lender: “Redfin completed its acquisition of Bay Equity Home Loans, paying $137.8 million for the mortgage lending operation in its quest to provide customers “a one-stop shop” where they can buy, sell, rent and finance a home, according to a news release from the company.” (Apr. 8)
Partnerships
- Reggora and Clear Capital partner to improve appraisal quality control: “Through this partnership, Reggora says it can help reduce the time it takes to process appraisals and fulfill a major part of the mortgage process. The company says it is heavily focused on reducing appraisal turn times, and says that lenders using its platform have seen a 35% reduction in appraisal turn times and 50% reduction in appraisal revisions.” (Apr. 21)
- Dealpath announces MRI Software partnership, Partner Connect integration (Apr. 8)
- Maxwell and Snapdocs partner to accelerate home loan digital closings: “The company says the integration is also built on a multi-party workflow engine, enabling all stakeholder activities to be coordinated with transparency. … The partnership comes at a time when loan costs are reaching near-record highs, with data showing they cost $8,600 more than last year.” (Apr. 11)
- FundMore.ai announces partnership with Filogix (Apr. 7)
- Yardi and WeWork partner to enhance workplace management software (Apr. 13)
- IDeaS and RMS Cloud partner for two-way hotel management revenue solution (Apr. 20)
Housing Market
- Sumutasu announces $10M Series B to lead Japan’s iBuyer market: “Sumutasu also noted that these factors have led to a low percentage of homes in circulation in Japan, stating 15% compared to the standard 80% seen in the U.S., and believes this will lead towards a stock-oriented housing policy that will shift demand towards new construction.” (Apr. 28)
- A bit of 2008 déjà vu: The housing market hits a level not seen since the last bubble (Apr. 18, Fortune)
PropTech Abroad
- TEAL Raises Funding To Transform Land And Property Records In India (Apr. 28, Inc 42)
- Indonesian property platform Pinhome secures $50M in Series B Funding (Apr. 22, DealStreetAsia)
- Proptech UrbanX raises millions for real estate agents to fly solo (Apr. 14, Startup Daily)
FinLedger Q&As
- Jeff Corn discusses Virtuance’s recent acquisition by Diakrit and the growing importance of digital assets in real estate (Apr. 6)
- RentSpree launches Agent Tools suite: Q&A with CEO Michael Lucarelli (Apr. 14)
- Allbridge CEO Todd Johnstone discusses the keys to adopting and servicing proptech (Apr. 28)
Tech Nest: The PropTech Podcast with Nate Smoyer
- Finding Upside in Commercial Elevator Tech with Ashleigh Wilson, CEO of Auditmate (Apr. 27)
- Second Home Co-Ownership Market Goes Mainstream with Austin Allison, CEO of Pacaso (Apr. 19)
- Bootstrapped Land Marketplace is Taking Ground, with Founder Michael Leigeber of Landsearch.com (Apr. 12)
- Can Auctions Bring Transparency to Buying Real Estate? (with Doorsey CEO Jordan Allen) (Apr. 5)
Partner content
- How to use AI to enhance primacy of bank clients (Apr. 12)
- How customizable automation can make workflows more efficient for lenders (Apr. 15)
- What financial institutions can learn from the financial literacy of Gen Z (Apr. 21)
- The connected ethos of crypto and real estate investment (Apr. 25)
Other notable proptech news
- Notarize hires first CFO (Apr. 11)
- CBRE opens flexible, high-tech office in TX (Apr. 21)
- Venture capitalists piled record $4B into proptech in Q1 (Apr. 19, The Real Deal)