Goodbye July, and Hello August!! As it concerns the property technology market, the past month has been filled with activity and a growing interest in multiple segments.
Particularly notable trends include increasing attention in single-family rental (SFR) build-to-rent (BTR) developments, and ongoing commercial focus on flex space offerings.
These trends are highlighted by RangeWater‘s recently announced plans to build 155 SFR units, and Mosaic‘s hiring of a Texas region BTR lead. WeWork also officially launched its WeWork Workplace product, giving businesses access to flexible workspaces across its properties and partner properties, and Yardi expanding its coworking service offerings.
That’s just the beginning of an eventful month now wrapped up. Below I’ve listed the biggest stories, news and activity around the proptech industry in July 2022.
Enjoy this month’s PropTech Retrospect.
Property Management/Multifamily
- Sagemount backs BuildingLink to fuel scaling efforts (July 13)
- Ryan continues property tax acquisition spree: “Previously, PTG was the national property tax practice of KPMG. Today their consultancy spans across real and personal property tax appeals, pre-acquisition planning due diligence, complex property consulting, and business personal property tax compliance. The PTG website says it provides services to clients on their commercial, industrial, multi-residential and special purpose properties.”(July 22)
- Madison Realty Capital originates $76M Miami condominium loan (July 8)
- JLL acquires Envio to bolster building operation data (July 26)
- Leasecake hires former JLL Technologies exec as COO: “The company says the appointment highlights its continued strategic expansion and growth within the location management proptech segment, and follows the company’s recent $12 million Series A led by PeakSpan Capital in April 2022.” (July 26)
- Latchel raises $16.7M for maintenance workflow platform (July 27)
- VoPay and Plexflow partner to simplify payments for Canadians (July 27, IBS Intelligence)
- Home inspection startup PunchListUSA raises $39 million in Series A: “Founded in 2018 as a contractor services company serving real estate agents in Charleston, South Carolina, PunchListUSA is now focused on intuitive online ordering, tracking and pricing transparency for homeowners, brokers and institutional investors. “(July 27)
- 4.3 million new U.S. apartments needed by 2035, new study shows (July 29)
Smart Tech
- Matterport acquires VHT Studios: “The company says the purchase will bring VHT’s visual media services together with its 3D digital twin platform in order to elevate the buying experience for home buyers, “while simplifying the process of creating comprehensive marketing packages for brokers and agents.”” (July 8)
- Livly integrates SALTO and ButterflyMX access control tech (July 14)
- XY Sense raises $8M for workplace sensor tech: “Launched in 2020 and based in Melbourne, Australia, XY Sense provides sensor hardware and AI-enabled analytics software to monitor, analyze and optimize commercial real estate portfolios. It says through its Area Sensor and Workplace Analytics platform, companies can capture real-time, accurate office occupancy and people movement data in order to drive workplace insights and space recommendations.”(July 25)
- SmartRent appoints SightPlan CEO as sales VP following merger (July 25)
SFR/Investment Property/Rentals
- “Climate-risky” vacation homes saw surge in past two years, Redfin report finds: “While this does echo an overall increase in second home purchases during the pandemic, with a 37% increase in the same time frame, homes that fell under elevated climate-related risks saw even larger purchase rates compared to pre-pandemic levels. These include a 45% increase in secondary homes at high flood risk, a 40% increase for those at high storm risk, and a 39% for high heat risk.” (July 5)
- Here raises $5M seed, plans to expand vacation rental marketplace (July 14)
- ApartmentLove acquires OwnerDirect.com (July 18)
- Proptech Parcl offers real estate investing without liquidity (July 19)
- Pacaso data shows 25% increase in luxury second home transactions: “The company says compared to pre-pandemic years, sales in of luxury second homes increased by 235% from the first quarter of 2020, according to a press release. It attributed this increase in home sales, defined as homes sold for $1 million or more that are designated for season or recreational use, to demand for summer-related activities and destinations.”(July 20)
- Inhabit IQ appoints new supervisors for its vacation division (July 28)
- PriceLabs secures funding to scale its vacation rental revenue platform (July 28)
Property Intelligence/Appraisal
- Apartments.com integrates Rently self-guided tours: “This integration launch follows recently released data by Apartments.com, which found a 63% increase in renters who prefer self-guided touring options. The company says that due to a growing preference for viewings outside of regular business hours and “desire for on-demand service, renters increasingly want to tour properties independently, without a manager or agent present.””(July 11)
- Markerr expands property intelligence platform (July 14)
- Class Valuation completes ACE+ PDR verification (July 18)
Insurance
- Zesty.ai raises $33M to extend climate risk tech to new industries: “The company says this capital will be used to scope expansion of its property and climate risk products, to scale its go-to-market motion and to build real estate solutions designed for mortgage, property and asset management. It added that these segments are a “natural extension” of its core mission in insurance, and leverage its existing AI-powered climate risk assessment technology.” (July 19)
- Bethea Consulting launches property damage assessment solution (July 6)
- Tractable hires new AI research lead (July 15)
Real Estate/Agents/Brokerages
Lending/Mortgage
- Maxwell launches Spanish-first loan POS (July 21)
- RentSpree grows again with fifth MLS partnership (July 5, Mortgage Professional)
Home equity
- Revive changes name, moves website to .realestate (July 20)
- Nada plans to release home equity-backed debit card: “The company says the funds will be used to expand the number of investment products it offers, improve its secondary trading platform and launch a mobile application. It also claims to be releasing the first ever real estate-backed debit card, saying it will enable homeowners to access their home equity and spend it via the card.”(July 27)
Commercial (CRE)
- Yardi unveils expanded coworking, flex space services: “The company says this includes the launch of its new CoWorkingCafe.com, which is designed to enable real-time bookings for conference rooms and private offices, and joins Yardi’s five existing commercial listing platforms (CommercialCafe, CommercialSearch, PropertyShark, 42Floors, and Point2).” (July 12)
- Ready Capital reveals CRE origination growth (July 15)
- OpenTech integrates Engrain mapping data into self-storage operating platform (July 19)
- WeWork launches flex space management solution: “WeWork says this is the only product in the market to combine all space type (privately leased/owned, WeWork and shared/affiliate) within a single experience, and noted that companies that need overflow space will also have the option to enable access to global WeWork and WeWork affiliated locations.”(July 20)
- Upflex hires new CRO (July 22)
- Commercial Real Estate Slaps Back at SEC Climate Rule Proposal (July 1, Globe St.)
- Crexi announces two C-suite appointments (July 25)
- Built acquires commercial lending platform Nativ (July 29)
ESG/Sustainability
- Clean02 announces $2.12M seed, names board advisors (July 11)
- IUC, Lincoln Property to install 6,000 EV chargers in Florida: “The project, once completed, will double the number of EV chargers in Florida. 3,827 chargers will be installed throughout the year in the first phase, mostly in Orlando and Tampa, according to the release.”(July 22)
Construction/Build-to-Rent (BTR)
- Built launches project management solution for lenders (July 6)
- Mosaic hires Texas BTR operations lead: “The company says that AuBuchon’s previous BTR experience is important for the company, noting that its research shows BTR communities experience lease rates over at five times the speed of Class A multi-family apartment projects in cities like Phoenix.”(July 7)
- Intelligent City raises $17M to automate prefab timber building and design (July 19)
- Foresite partners with Lilt to break down language barriers in construction (July 25)
- TestFit raises $20M to scale development decision-making platform: “TestFit says its unified enterprise platform, which utilizes construction cost planning and asset design for commodity real estate developers, is made possible by the integration of property management, construction tech and design tech into a single building configuration software.”(July 26)
- RangeWater plans 155 build-to-rent SFR (July 28)
- U.S. hotel construction pipeline climbs 9% (July 28, Hotel Management)
VC Funds/Accelerators
- DMZ and GroundBreak Ventures launch proptech incubator (July 5)
- Proptech venture capital funding hits record $13.1B: “The report found that through the first half of 2022 a record $13.1 billion was invested in real estate tech and proptech companies, with industry venture funding increasing by 5.65% ($700 million) compared to the first half of 2021.”(July 12)
- Fundrise launches $1B investment fund (July 18)
- Fifth Wall completes $500 million Climate Fund (July 21)
- The Coming Tsunami of PropTech M&A (July 1, Propmodo)
FinLedger Q&As
- Xeal VP Chris Moreno talks multifamily EV and his new partnership role (July 7)
- Fundrise CEO Ben Miller discusses changing markets, opening up investing (July 27)
Tech Nest: The PropTech Podcast with Nate Smoyer
- Unlocking Renewable Energy in CRE with James Geshwiler with Chief Strategy and Investment Officer of Catalyze (July 5)
- Resident-First Property Management with Marcela Sapone, CEO of Alfred (July 12)
- Modern Commercial Lease Management with Matt Giffune, CEO of Occupier (July 19)
- Real-Time iBuyer Data with Tyler Okland, Co-founder of Datadoor (July 19)
- Modern Rental Management Tools for Real Estate Agents and Investors with Michael Lucarelli, CEO of RentSpree (July 26)