Proptech for the Planet
As technology applications evolve beyond the digital urgency created by the pandemic, Isobel Lee finds that industry startups are being asked to help real estate become great and green
A Capital Idea
While VC funds increase their exposure to proptech and drive industry consolidation, traditional property firms are also allocating bigger budgets to digitalise processes
After Proptech’s Monster 2021, Stage Set For Huge Adoption, Investment In 2022
Real estate technology’s banner 2021, which has seen a record-setting $9.5B invested in the sector through mid-November, came from a confluence of an increased demand for data analytics, the belief that more efficient offices or energy systems could tempt workers back to the office, and the desire save money while bolstering sustainability bona fides.
Fundraising and M&A boom shows proptech is coming of age
What the biggest deals of 2021 say about the proptech sector
Inside JLL’s Technology Investment Strategy
It’s safe to say that technology is rapidly changing the condition of real estate management. JLL, one of the most prominent players in commercial real estate, has been heavily focused on their technology strategy, by investing in proptech companies through their global venture fund, JLL Spark, building technology products internally or acquiring companies. Over the past year alone, JLL’s technology division– JLL Technologies (JLLT)– has evaluated over 50 companies to add to their roster. The most recent among the flurry of purchases that made the cut is Building Engines. This Boston-based property management software company provides a “comprehensive, easy-to-use system that unites all the technology and applications used to run buildings in one place,” according to a statement.
‘They Monetized Change’: Big Commercial Brokerages Reach Deeper Into New Realms
Raj Singh is looking to invest in construction robotics. That’s not head-turning news for the head of a typical venture capital firm, but that’s not where he works.
Singh is a San Francisco-based managing director of JLL Spark, the technology investment arm of the Fortune 500 commercial real estate services giant that can trace parts of its company back to 1783. It’s not exactly an obvious move for JLL, primarily known for brokering office sales and leases. To Singh, however, it makes perfect sense.
“There’s only two strategies in the world: bundling and unbundling,” he said. “We’re currently going through a bundling phase. Our scope has expanded greatly, we’re looking at things much more far afield.”
Proptech fundraising heading for a record year
Venture capital funding for proptech companies hit a record in the first half of 2021, and the momentum is expected to continue.
Broker 2.0: $1.5B Investment Into Proptech By Big Firms Is Changing How They Operate
The nation’s biggest brokerages have invested almost $1.5B in proptech deals over the past 10 years. They know the world is changing, they know they need to stay ahead of that change, and they have put up real money to invest in the future. But what has that investment actually bought them?
JLL revs up CRE technology with Building Engines
JLL is excited to announce it has reached an agreement to acquire Boston-based Building Engines, the leader in building operations technology. The $300 million deal is slated to close toward the end of 2021 and will expand our offerings and technology leadership across the corporate real estate (CRE) industry.
Building Engines’ cloud-based building operations platform, Prism, unites previously disparate technologies and processes into a single, easy-to-use solution. Prism integrates with more than 30 existing building operations tools—including software that JLL uses and invests in through its Spark venture capital fund.
JLL’s deep industry experience and JLL Technologies’ (JLLT) tech expertise, combined with Building Engines’ innovative platform, promise to advance the digital transformation of corporate and commercial real estate.
JLL Spark leads SwiftConnect fundraise
Citing a “significant opportunity to scale adoption” amid the growth of hybrid working, JLL Spark has co-led a $9m fundraising round for software that connects access control across buildings around the world.