Another wild month for the property technology market. With the largest single rate hike by the Fed since 1994 coming down earlier this month, companies big and small on every side of the real estate equation are attempting to pivot, or find usefulness in the current market.
While home buying and mortgages are certainly being hit by these hikes, more and more potential homebuyers are instead looking to rent. As a result of that and rising inflation, property management and rental solutions have seen an uptick in activity, as investors look for new ways to capitalize on high-level earners and generate cash flow from their units.
One segment of the sector that has seen noticeable acceleration has been smart home and IoT technology, due to pressure from renters for modern, work-from-home capabilities and from managers for property insights.
Examples include View, which recently announced its smart building cloud product, and Xeal, which hired Chris Moreno as VP of Real Estate and Channel Partnerships in a push to integrate electric vehicle into multifamily properties across the U.S.
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 June 2022.
Enjoy this month’s PropTech Retrospect.
Property Management/Multifamily
- AppFolio launches integration marketplace: “It also notes that there is a growing trend for property managers to centralize their workflows into a single platform, with 55% of large organizations planning to increase their use of point solutions in the next few years.” (June 22)
- Zego unveils Flex payment solution partnership (June 22)
- Foxen raises $44M for real estate fintech solutions: “The company says it will use the funding to accelerate development of its product portfolio, to fuel doubling its team size over the next year and to expand its offerings across the more than 24 million multifamily units in the U.S.” (June 2)
- Property Meld partners with PURE to improve property maintenance management (June 3)
- GPARENCY hires Freddie Mac multifamily tech lead as product manager (June 16)
- 365Connect CEO named to Multifamily Innovation Advisory Council (June 29)
Smart Tech
- View announces smart building cloud product: “It says that while this transformation promises healthier and more sustainable buildings, better experiences for occupants and operational efficiencies for owners, existing solutions require combining point solutions, which results in greater exposure to cybersecurity threats, cost overruns and diminished returns.” (June 14)
- Ambient.ai announces Brivo partnership (June 9)
- Quext raises $63M for multifamily IoT tech (June 16)
- Xeal hires Real Estate and Channel Partnership VP (June 21)
- Enseo partners with Volara to introduce voice controls to senior living (June 27)
- Security Systems & PropTech: Coming to a Smart Building Near You (June 9, Security Magazine)
- WiredScore Scores $15M in New Funding (June 29, Commercial Observer)
- Coima invests initial €10m in proptech push (June 15, IPE)
SFR/Investment Property/Rentals
- Setpoint announces real estate transaction platform launch, $615M debt raise: “The company’s enables proptech companies to offer frictionless home buying and selling options, including contingent-free, all-cash offers to customers, which it says enables these businesses to accelerate funding and closing on properties.” (June 1)
- Parvis raises $2.6M for blockchain-based real estate investment platform (June 2)
- Zavvie report shows how tech firms are changing real estate (June 8)
- Summer launches second home ownership platform: “Through its platform, Summer aims to allow prospective homeowners to try out homes before they buy and says it guarantees income after purchase to lower the costs of ownership.” (June 8)
- Rising mortgage rates continue to fuel rental demand (June 13)
- Snappt finds 12% of rental application scans contain fraud: “Through detecting this fraud, which amounts to almost one in eight applicants (12.2%), the company also says it helped its customers avoid more than $105 million in bad debt in 2021.” (June 15)
- Obligo partners with Wells Fargo (June 27)
Property Intelligence/Appraisal
- Tyler integrates Nearmap tech to enhance mass appraisal services: “Tyler, which claims to be the largest provider of computer-assisted mass appraisals (CAMA) for properties in the U.S., says that the partnership will provide users ‘with the most comprehensive property appraisal solution available in the U.S.'”(June 6)
- Archistar buys Snaploader as part of US expansion (June 7)
- HonestDoor expands free residential home valuations (June 23)
- CoreLogic names Patrick Dodd CEO (June 28)
Real Estate/Agents/Brokerages
- Realogy completes rebrand to Anywhere (June 9)
- Fello secures $25M for agent-led iBuyer solution: “The Cleveland-based company claims that through its platform, ‘it gives agents the ability to provide homeowners with an iBuying option while staying at the center of the relationship.’ (June 28)
- HomeLister raises $10M Series A (June 30)
- PLACE announces CTO, CMO hires (June 30)
- Sequoia Capital India and Founders Fund back UAE-based proptech startup Huspy in its $37M round (June 21)
- Peek, a Virtual Touring Platform, Takes Aim at Matterport With $2.5M in New Funding: “Peek operates nationally, using its gig worker network to virtualize apartment buildings, Lo said. The property managers or owners pay for the service, which includes the coordination of the content creation.” (June 28, Commercial Observer)
- Douglas Elliman Launches Custom Digital and Social Advertising Solution AdPro (June 2, MarTech Series)
Lending/Mortgage
- Proptech HomeLight raises $115 million, acquires Accept.inc (June 17)
- Knox Financial to expand loan products with $50 million in funding (June 29)
Home equity
- EasyKnock and Marketplace Homes partner to merge sale-leaseback model with new construction (June 6)
Commercial (CRE)
- Keyway raises $25M Series A for smaller CRE transactions: “The company, which focuses on simplifying sub $20 million commercial real estate (CRE) transactions, says it will use the funding to invest in its technology and machine learning capabilities.” (June 21)
- Hartman selects REMLogics to manage CRE portfolio (June 14)
- Altrio raises $6.2M Series A to digitize CRE workflow (June 15)
- M&T Realty Capital finances 122-unit complex in southern CT (June 21)
ESG/Sustainability
- Allume and RENU announce first shared multifamily solar system in US: “Allume says that by utilizing its SolShare technology, community residents will be able to subscribe to a portion of the solar energy produced and offset the cost of their individual electricity bills.” (June 28)
- Morningstar Sustainalytics acquires climate risk data firm Aquantix (June 29)
- Proptech Grows as Tool for CRE to Combat Climate Change: Forum (June 30, Commercial Observer)
- Cleartrace Raises $20 Million Financing Led by ClearSky With Strategic Funding (June 29, Yahoo Finance)
Construction
- Apis Cor aims to raise $35M to disrupt the home construction industry: “The company says it plans to use funding to expand its workforce, fleet of printers and bulk trucks, and to establish multiple 3D printing material batching plants. It also said it plans to utilize the capital for ongoing product improvement and development.” (June 8)
- Construction design platform Alice Technologies bags fresh capital to expand (June 13, TechCrunch)
- San Diego construction tech startup lands $6.5 million to digitize and automate home building (June 30, San Diego Tribune)
- Pulley raises $4.4M seed to shorten the construction permitting process ‘from months to days’ (June 2, TechCrunch)
- Join secures new cash to build a ‘decision-making’ platform for construction (June 21, TechCrunch)
VC Funds/Accelerators
- Walker & Dunlop announce Metro Fund partnership (June 7)
- RET announces hiring former UDR president Jerry Davis (June 8)
- Pi Labs concludes tenth proptech accelerator program (June 17)
FinLedger Q&As
- Sundae CEO Josh Stech discusses recent product launches, market outlooks and plans ahead (May 31)
- HomeTap CEO Jeff Glass discusses using home equity to fund small businesses (June 16)
- Obligo CTO Yiftah Barouch talks security deposits, open banking and integrations (June 17)
- Brightvine CEO explains mortgage NFTs and blockchain uses (June 23)
- Stake CEO Rowland Hobbs tackles renter loyalty (June 30)
Tech Nest: The PropTech Podcast with Nate Smoyer
- Finding Small Multifamily Rentals to Invest In with Jeff Gopshtein of Yieldeasy (June 7)
- Rethinking Rental Property Finance Management with Mathias Korder, CEO of Baselane (June 14)
- Creating the Check Engine Light for Homes with Dan Simpkins, CEO of Dwellwell (June 21)
- It’s All About the People in Property Management with Joe Polverari, Co-founder of PURE Property Management (June 28)
Partner content
- Four PropTech Pivots (June 29, Romi Mahajan)
- Why now is the time for property managers to invest in smart home tech (June 1)
- How customizable automation can make workflows more efficient for lenders (June 9)