As the proptech sector has grown, so too has the ecosystem which serves it, from investors, to consultants, to lawyers to recruiters. We asked representatives from all four professions specialising in the proptech market, how they’ve seen the industry grow and demand for their services increase.
 
Adam Malik, Co-Founder of strategy and communications firm, Bloxspring
 

 
“Proptech is going through a period of real maturity. Gone are the days people ask ‘prop what?’, to discussing how the lines are blurring between fintech, contech and climate tech.

The space has been through tremendous change with many startups having had to make difficult choices to pivot, adapt or sadly close down over the past couple of years. We now see the conversations shifting from hope and resilience, to new market expansion, fundraising and product launches. The thirst for knowledge and openness to change has remained a constant theme.

Most commonly we hear founders complain they previously had open space but now find competitors peering over their shoulders, wanting a slice of their pie. If they didn’t need to stand out before, they do now, especially with stakes raised. The companies with the right proposition, framed in the right way see the fruits of this early investment. For the others, there’s just a lot of head scratching.”
 
Kingma Ma, Head of UK at PROPTECH1
 

 
“When I started working in the PropTech and venture capital ecosystem in 2018, I felt that there was little understanding of what technology and digitalisation could mean for the traditional real estate industry. Three to four years later, there are innovation associates and directors at almost every publicly listed real estate company, who are doing a fantastic job of being a knowledgeable entry point for PropTech companies to engage with the industry. Now digitalisation and sustainability are the hottest topics talked about by CEOs and MDs at industry events.
 

Over the past 12 months proptech companies have really pushed on with (and in some cases reinvigorated) their international expansion plans. Companies are also not just looking at the UK, which would traditionally have been the cases, but also mainland Europe to cities such as Berlin where the adoption of technology is commonplace. We see this as a sign of confidence and growth in the sector.”
 
James Gershfield, Head of UK PropTech, VC & RE Investment at LMRE
 

 
“The demand for top talent in the PropTech space is extremely high right now. As a global PropTech recruitment business, LMRE help startups grow their teams internationally across all verticals including sales, business development, account management, customer success, marketing and product.

Sourcing for candidates who have the right skills and experience within a timely manner who also compliment the company’s culture is the biggest challenge for a recruitment business but here at LMRE we have a team of both Real Estate and Technology professionals who are able to deliver best in class talent to aid our clients’ growth. We not only understand our clients’ goals, but more importantly we consultant to businesses on what ‘top talent’ looks like and advise on the type of individual who can accelerate their growth.

In a recent poll, 76% of senior hiring managers admitted that they hired the wrong candidate for a role when not using a specialist recruiter.

In the UK, there is a high demand for Senior candidates who can lead a company’s expansion into a new territory. Several of our existing clients from the US, EU and APAC are now expanding their teams into the UK and they utilise our experience within this space to deliver the right individuals who will help them achieve the expansion goals.”

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As with many businesses, Blueground’s revenue, especially from corporate travel, was dramatically impacted when the pandemic hit, with businesses cancelling all trips indefinitely. Over a year later, the startup has seen a growing demand from digital nomads – those able to work from home and looking for a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle.

Blueground has since addressed this unmet need for flexibility with its unique approach of 30+ day stays:

• With an average stay of four months, Blueground allows customers to feel at home while providing a flexible lifestyle unlike a traditional 12-month lease.

• With a network of over 4,000 apartments in sought after neighbourhoods across 15 cities worldwide (and growing), Blueground offers flexibility for its customers to move between apartments across the globe, all with one consistent, quality�� ‘host’

• The apartments are high-quality, stylish, fully furnished, and turnkey, allowing you to just show up and start living

With flexibility at the heart of Blueground’s offering, its very own internal ‘Blueground Nomads’ programme allows employees to define their ideal working conditions by working from anywhere in the world.

To date, the company has raised a total of $78M in equity funding. As of July, Blueground has over 50 apartments in London, 80 in Paris, and 700 in Athens.

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Our Criteria Includes:

• The quality of the product offered.
• How they stand out in their niche.
• How beneficial the product is/has been.
• Experience of their team and staff.

What is PropTech?

“PropTech” is a recent buzzword in commercial real estate. Combining property with modern technology, PropTech is a movement in the real estate market which is creating efficient systems that are rooted in exploring the digital landscape, following new consumption patterns.

Proptech is an innovative approach to real estate in which technology optimises the way people research, rent, buy, sell, and manage a property. The cross-industry technology benefits all parties in real estate, including the developers, investors, and property management companies.

The PropTech market in the UK is huge – there are currently over 400 UK PropTech companies. Domestically, the U.K. proptech market is hugely lucrative, worth a potential £6 billion, and already receives 10% of global proptech investment. Of these 400+ companies, 55% have a B2C leaning, 37% B2B, and 7% focus on both.

As far as the residential property lifecycle in concerned, most of the UK’s PropTech solutions are catering for buying, including companies like Land Bay and Realyse, and ongoing property management, including the likes of acasa.

See The 91̽�� Top 45 PropTech’s!

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Top 25 >>

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Please contact us here

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About Appear Here

Appear Here is the leading online marketplace for retail space whose mission is to create a world where anyone, anywhere can find space for their ideas.

Over 200,000 industry leading brands, designers and creative entrepreneurs are using Appear Here to find and book retail space. Appear Here lists over 7,000 spaces in the top retail destinations across the world, including London, Paris and New York.

Everyone from global brands such as Apple, Chanel and Net-a-porter to innovative startups like Supreme, Spotify and Made.com, plus 1000’s independent brands and designers have used Appear Here to launch their ideas. To date, Appear Here has launched over 10,000 new stores.

Appear Here is building a global network of the best retail spaces and working exclusively with some of the biggest landlords in the world including Land Securities, Hammerson and Westfield. Spaces listed on Appear Here include prime high street shops, underground stations, unique venues, major shopping malls and historic buildings. In 2015, Appear Here launched In Residence: a collection of spaces inside some of the world’s best boutiques, hotels and gyms.

All spaces are exclusive to Appear Here and can be booked by the week or month. Traditionally it takes on average 3-6 months to book a shop. With Appear Here, it takes just 3-6 days to book a shop. The current record is seven minutes.

TFL Partnership

In April 2014, Transport for London appointed Appear Here to introduce pop up shops across its retail estate, including key underground stations such as, Piccadilly Circus tube station, Baker Street, Old Street Station, St. Paul’s tube station and Leicester Square.

As part of this new partnership, Appear Here took an active role in the curation of Old Street Station transforming it into a new retail destination dedicated to pop-up retail. The station was given a revamp and eight retail spaces within were white-boxed and listed on Appear Here’s marketplace.

In 2015, Appear Here was awarded Property Week’s Placemaking award for Old Street Station. Since launch, over 500 brands have appeared in the station, including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Jamie Oliver and streetwear concept store Ejder which won Best Pop Up Shop at the Mapic Awards 2016.

In 2017, Netflix took over the entire station for the launch of Black Mirror Season 4.

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About Habito

Habito will get you the best mortgage possible. Fast, transparent and impartial – Habito will take care of it. Using a unique combination of cutting edge technology and industry-leading mortgage experts, homebuyers can, for the first time, be sure they are getting the best deal for them.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer, you’re moving, remortgaging, or simply taking back control of your finances, a mortgage is a big decision – it’s no surprise that 4 out of 5 people seek advice from a broker.

Unlike a traditional broker, Habito technology analyses every mortgage on the market from over 70 lenders to find the best one for you in seconds. Once they find you the right mortgage, Habito will be with you every step of the way. You’ll have a dedicated mortgage expert who will keep you updated with the progress of your application from start to finish, and will always be on the end of the phone or live chat to answer your questions.

Habito provides Habito Plus, a homebuying service which brings a buyer’s mortgage application, conveyancing needs and surveys under one solution, and a proprietary broker portal, which gives more than 3,000 external brokers exclusive access to the company’s own buy-to-let mortgage products and Instant Decision technology capabilities. The firm is now looking to bring to market a suite of innovative residential mortgage products for all types of homeowners.

About the Founder

Daniel Hegarty founded Habito, the free online mortgage broker in 2015. He saw the opportunity to transform the mortgage market after a frustrating and protracted experience getting his own mortgage and decided to use technology to create a better way.

Daniel has extensive fintech experience that took an unusual route, having spent the early part of hiscareer as a professional musician. He was a songwriter, session musician, composed for TV and film and toured internationally for many years.

In 2007, he became increasingly interested in the tech and startup scene and joined a fledgling fintech company, Wonga as Head of Product. He went on to hold several other positions as the business grew and became global including Head of Decision Science, Head of Strategy & New Ventures and Managing Director of Business Lending & Retail.

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About Fixflo

Fixflo has fundamentally changed how repair and maintenance issues are managed in homes and places of work. Fixflo’s��smart, cloud-based software solutions help property managers improve efficiency, exceed customer expectations and stay compliant with regulatory requirements.

Fixflo provides an innovative solution to a problem that frustrates tenants, property repairs and landlords. By using the system, property managers and landlords save time and money, and tenants get repairs carried out more quickly.

Used by over 4,000 lettings agents nationwide and expanding into international territories such as South Africa, the business is widely regarded as one of the leading suppliers within the industry and was awarded the 2016 Sunday Times Gold Award for Best Supplier to the Lettings Industry.

Fixflo regularly exhibits at industry conferences and events, and is constantly striving to improve the repair reporting and proactive property management landscape for everyone involved in lettings and property management.

Fixflo Acquisition

In May 2021, it was announced that Fixflo had been acquired by European company, Aareon AG.

Aareon AG describes itself as Europe’s leading property software company, and an announcement this afternoon says it’s bought 100 per cent of the shares in Fixflo, for an undisclosed sum.

Fixflo – which manages repairs on around 1.2m units for some 1,500 customers – will continue to operate as a separate brand but says it will be “a part of the Aareon family” and pledges “a significant increase in Fixflo’s research and development budget as its solutions form part of the roadmap for the wider Aareon group.”

Fixflo co-founders Rajeev Nayyar and Duncan Careless, together with the whole Fixflo executive team, are remaining with the business.

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About Movebubble

Since its foundation, the team at Movebubble has developed solutions to problems faced by renters by looking at how people search for rentals in a completely different way to how it’s been done before. The app facilitates a seamless end-to-end solution for Renters and Property Partners (Build-to-Rent, Letting Agents and Landlords)

In 2018, Movebubble developed a bespoke solution for Build-to-Rent homes for London and Manchester and partners with BTR industry leaders such as Greystar, Grainger and Quintain Living.

The Movebubble platform continues to disrupt the industry – we drive quality demand to our B2B clients, using our newly built marketing and demand engine, which focuses on digital innovation, content engagement and retargeting across all major platforms and channels.

With the recent hire of Raj Valley as the new CEO, there has been dramatic change across all parts of the business, with a long term strategy to expand UK wide and beyond. “I saw huge opportunity with Movebubble,” commented Raj Valley, CEO of Movebubble. “With an already core client base and amazing technology platform, the company is ripe for growth, and ready to become a true disrupter in this space”

Movebubble USP and Recent Milestones

Movebubble are unique in the Proptech market. They offer end-to-end solutions for Renters & Partners,�� video walkthroughs, real time communication with partners (in app chat), affordability checks, and the ability to transact online and book viewings.

As of 2020, Movebubble has hit several milestones. Movebubble were the first to market video walkthroughs in April 2020. Their instant booking service launched in June 2020, and just one month later, their Open Banking and Renter Affordability services launched, in July 2020. Movebubble pride themselves on scalable and slick marketing and a demand engine focused on quality leads.

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About Housemates

Housemates is a global marketplace and SaaS solution which allows students around the world to book accommodation fast, secure and 100% online.

The platform enables global PBSA operators to convert students into bookings across all acquisition channels without the associated cost.

The Mates Group ecosystem consists of their marketplace, SaaS, API’s and affiliates offering the one-stop solution for the growing PBSA market covering both new to market and more established operators.

Their team is made up of those who have helped revolutionise multiple sectors for challenger brands such as Starling Bank, Spareroom and ChooseMyCar.

Their founder and CEO Lydia is on a mission to build the booking.com for the student housing market and believes the real opportunity is access to real-time data.

Over the last 18 months, the business has received substantial investment from private investors, funding it’s journey as the business continues to scale.

Housemates Pre-Seed Investment

In April 2020, it was announced that Housemates had secured a £100k Pre-Seed investment, led by GC Angels.

Housemates planned to use this funding to support the validation of the concept in Manchester as they looks to launch a web app later this year, as well as creating jobs across its design, marketing and software departments. This will support the business as it looks to expand its current offering to cover key milestones across the whole student journey.

Housemates have built on the success of Jones’ ‘Hall Hang’ student accommodation app, designed to help international students find places at UK halls of residence.

The UK international student market remains extremely valuable, with nearly 500,000 overseas pupils moving to the UK to study every year – second only to the US. In total, the global market value for students is estimated at $180bn a year, presenting an enormous opportunity for innovative companies.

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About Trussle

Trussle has taken the mortgage process online, removing the time, hassle and costs involved in securing a mortgage. Trussle is completely free for customers and receives a fee from the lender once the mortgage was completed.

Trussle is a trading style of Trussle Lab Ltd, which is an appointed representative of Mortgage Advice Bureau Limited and Mortgage Advice Bureau (Derby) Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

With Trussle, customers can see how much they could borrow or save in minutes. Whether they’re looking at homes for the first time or you’re looking to remortgage for the fourth time, Trussle’s quick online calculators will help their customers take the next step onto their home ownership journey.

Customers can find and secure their mortgage entirely online. Say goodbye to paperwork, long phone calls, and being left out of the loop. Say hello to a quick, jargon-free, personal service that customers can access from anywhere at anytime.

Trussle compare your mortgage with the latest deals on the market each day, so they can alert you the moment it’s time to switch to a more suitable deal. That way, customers will never pay more than you should to own your home.

Trussle Milestones

Just a few months after launching in December 2015, Trussle received its first investment. Trussle were backed in a £1.1mil funding round by some of Europe’s leading technology investors including LocalGlobe, Ed Wray (founder of Betfair), Ian Hogarth (founder of Songkick), Seedcamp, and Zoopla Property Group.

By the end of 2016, Trussle were awarded PropTech Startup of The Year at the Elevator Pitch LIVE Awards for making mortgage complexity a thing of the past.

In May 2018, Trussle announced their Series B funding of £13.6m backed by Goldman Sachs PSI and Propel Venture Partners.

By December 2020, Trussle became directly authorised as a mortgage broker by the Financial Conduct Authority, after 5 successful years as an appointed representative of the Mortgage Advice Bureau.

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About Arthur

Arthur offers an impressive range of easy-to-use effective features encompassing: property management, stakeholder management, applicant viewing and management, task management, document management, workflow management, tenancy management, in addition to financials and reporting.

Arthur is the only cloud-based property management platform fully integrated with thousands of third-party industry apps – including Xero, Rightmove and Zoopla to name a few – and creates hassle-free property management solutions to maintain a leading position in the market. Developed by a core team of landlords, letting agents and technology enthusiasts, Arthur has continuously adapted its software to meet the ever-changing demands of letting agents with the necessary tools to seamlessly manage all stakeholders at every stage.

Providing a solution to the challenges of the pandemic, Arthur responded quickly with the launch of two new powerful tools; the Covid Profile and the Vulnerability Profile. The new functions provide tenants with an accessible platform to inform landlords of any health or wellbeing related issues that need to be considered when scheduling viewings or third-party related work.

With an array of market-leading features, such as a fully integrated Live Bank Feed, Arthur simplifies inefficient property management processes whilst also being the only cloud-based management platform to have a suite of bespoke apps for each stakeholder type. By managing all stakeholders on one platform, communication between all parties is simple and efficient.

Recent Milestones at Arthur

In January 2021, Arthur was acquired by Aareon AEG, the leading provider of ERP software and digital solutions for the European property industry and its partners. This acquisition has provided Arthur with a real opportunity to boost its levels of innovation and continue providing the best level of service, and the highest quality of features for every stakeholder across the lettings industry.

In July 2021, Arthur acquired Tilt Property Software. The acquisition forms part of Arthur’s strategic growth plans and presents a huge opportunity for Arthur as a company, in addition to adding further value to the clients of both Arthur and Tilt.

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