From Servers To The Built Environment

Pengfei Liu/Unsplash

Property technology (PropTech) has transformed the way we transact and use real estate assets over the last decade and the billions invested in it speak volumes about its acceptability and future. 

But there is a general notion out there that proptech is still less prop and more tech because so far, the proptech space has been dominated by tech entrepreneurs and funded by technology VCs. 

That long standing trend could soon change.

Taking On The Built Environment

While tech investors have aspired to transform the real estate industry into a digital space, digging deeper shows that this change has been more of a give-and-take. 

Recent trends are about tech players digitizing workflows in real estate, while also vertically integrating into construction of real estate assets that they specialize in.

Context, Please.

Just like Netflix began as a pure streaming platform and then expanded into producing the content that it streams, PropTech firms are starting to build the very assets that they list/sell. 

Whether it is Airbnb building its own properties and partnering with developers, or Zillow buying and selling homes on its own account, PropTech is making its presence felt in the built environment.

How Does It Help?

What are the benefits for a proptech firm when it enters into the world of development? 

Once full stack proptech players have achieved scale and garnered a global consumer base, taking over development management perhaps becomes necessary to reduce third party risks while increasing control over quality and delivery. 

Quite like Amazon’s bid to purchase MGM to take complete control over it's own future.