We need a new approach to innovation in real estate

‘Proptech’ is so yesterday! Don’t get me wrong: there is no bigger fan of this industry than me. For almost 10 years, I’ve been on a mission to build a ‘proptech’ community because there really wasn’t one. I’ve worked hard, along with many others, to build an ecosystem of tech founders, landlords and investors that can connect with the real estate industry.

We’ve made incredible progress as a community – we’ve gone from “what’s proptech?” to a thriving, global ecosystem that attracts billions of venture dollars annually and now encompasses more than 10,000 startups.

But for a while now, I’ve been thinking that as a community something bigger is in the air. When I think about how we refer to ourselves as ‘proptech’ – and I’ve been using that term from the very beginning – I can’t help but think we’re doing ourselves a disservice. All of us that are active in the ‘proptech’ community are missing out on a much bigger narrative that is happening all around us.

And that is the fact that technology has become mainstream in the real estate industry.

Think about it. When we talk about ourselves as proptech companies, what we’re really saying is we’re our own unique industry. But the truth is we are part of the real estate industry. We are just as important on the innovation and tech side as is the financial and construction side.

Innovators within real estate

So, what we need to be thinking is that we’re not just a ‘proptech’ community. We are innovators within real estate, working alongside investors, developers, agents and brokers, consultants and architects to make this trillion dollar industry work better for the communities we serve.

We have to start thinking of ourselves as being part of the built world, not separate from it. We’re at a time globally where we don’t have to label ourselves differently. We are as core to the real estate process as any function within a real estate organisation. We are the ones who are re-imaging tenant experiences while focusing heavily on sustainability and data.

Never before has technology been so critical to the real estate industry. Throughout the built world, technology is impacting every aspect of the industry. From creating smart cities to decarbonising buildings, creating new construction materials, making affordable housing a reality for thousands of people, using data in ways never seen before to drive tenant engagement, and better user experience for employees in spaces, technology and innovation are now infused in every aspect of real estate.

CREtech London 2023 took place at a time where clearly there were – and continue to be – some headwinds that we’re all facing in the economy and in real estate and tech. But for anyone that questions the longevity of this community, I would say to them…come to London. What we saw over the two days of our conference – where we welcomed more than 1,500 people to talk about technology and innovation in real estate – was a community that is enthused about its future and that of the built environment. New ideas, new solutions, new ways to make the world a better place and tackle the prevailing issues of our time.

CREtech’s focus is on ‘reimagining real estate’ to tell the story of how technology and innovation are transforming the real estate sector. So, when you come to your next CREtech event, my hope is that you think you are attending a real estate conference, not a ‘proptech’ one.

We’ve built one of the largest communities in the world, with more than 150,000 startups, VCs and the leading global real estate companies. They’re talking to each other as peers that want to work together to reimagine real estate. At a time of rapid change and tremendous market uncertainty, those conversations – in one place, between colleagues in one industry – will ensure that we’re best placed to meet the challenges of tomorrow.