Proptech

WeWork without the swagger

Last updated: 30 Sep 2021

Market 101

Despite being the world’s largest asset class, real estate has been a stubborn sector to disrupt. Proptech is a good example: it wasn’t really on anyone’s radar until WeWork burst onto the scene last decade — and we all know how that ended. Or do we? Fast forward to pandemic-induced hybrid work and it turns out WeWork was onto something when it came to flexible spaces centered around bespoke experiences. Now, real estate companies are the ones looking to play catch-up, rather than basking in schadenfreude.

That’s good news for proptech startups, who are sensing that their time has come to prove their worth to incumbents by focusing on the fundamentals rather than on the swagger. From home buying to identity verification, ‘property passports’ to smart buildings, they’re removing friction for incumbents, and by default the end customers. It’s not quite ‘elevating the world’s consciousness’, as WeWork wrote in its 2019 IPO filing, but slowly and surely these companies appear to be leading a stubborn real estate sector into a brave new world.

Early stage market map

Early stage market map

Key facts

€228tn

Market size of the global real estate market1

45%

CAGR in annual proptech funding in Europe from 2014-20192

59%

Percentage of commercial real estate companies who expect an increase in vacancy rates over the next 12 months3

Startups tracked by Sifted

Sifted take

For too long, proptechs saw their services as a way to delight customers, while real estate companies were mostly interested in reducing inefficiencies. Covid-19 may have brought these interests closer together, as changes in the way customers use and value space are pressuring incumbents to adapt.

Rising stars

Desana.io

Flexible space

Hybrid office spaces

Total funding

€3.9m

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2016

Supports companies in their transition to hybrid work by offering their staff access to a global network of workspaces, and offering data insights to inform their strategies for utilising office space.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€15m


Date

2021

Size

€3.3m

Beeldi

Smart buildings

Building controls

Total funding

€1.3m

Paris, France
2016

Provides an application that collects and analyses building data to simplify building management and save time on technical audits.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed


Date

2020

Size

€1.3m

Homeppl

Document automation/verification

Building controls

Total funding

€4m

London, United Kingdom
2017

A Barclays Techstars company, Homeppl verifies potential tenants’ ability to pay rent using a combination of open banking data, proprietary behavioural analysis and fraud detection tests. In contrast to traditional credit checks, Homeppl’s tools can be applied to a broader range of consumers like the self-employed and expats.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€12m (estimated)


Date

2021

Size

€1.1m

Early stage startups to watch

Ahauz

London, United Kingdom
2016
Seed

3.5m

3m

-

Beeldi

Paris, France
2016
Seed

1.3m

1.3m

-

DeltaQ

Brussels, Belgium
2019
Seed

1.5m

1.5m

7.5m

Desana.io

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2016
Seed

3.9m

3.3m

-

Designable

Valencia, Spain
2018
Seed

958k

488k

8.4m

Enso Coliving

Barcelona, Spain
2019
Seed

280k

280k

-

Frementa

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
2020
Seed

200k

200k

-

Halo.rent

London, United Kingdom
2018
Seed

3.4m

1.5m

-

Homepilot

Paris, France
2017
Seed

3.2m

2.6m

13m

Homeppl

London, United Kingdom
2017
Seed

4m

1.1m

-

houzen

London, United Kingdom
2017
Seed

2m

1.4m

-

Howsy

London, United Kingdom
2016
Seed

9.2m

960k

-

LEDCity AG

LEDCity AG, Switzerland
2017
Seed

2m

2m

-

Linear

Helsinki, Finland
2019
Seed

1.6m

1.1m

-

Lofti

London, United Kingdom
2020
Seed

1.3m

1.3m

-

Mateo

Berlin, Germany
2021
Seed

260k

260k

-

Milluu

Bucharest, Romania
2017
Seed

884k

884k

-

Orbital Witness

London, United Kingdom
2018
Seed

4.7m

4m

15m

PerchPeek

London, United Kingdom
2018
Seed

3.2m

2.2m

-

Proper

Copenhagen, Denmark
2018
Seed

4.4m

3.8m

8.5m

Prosperty

Athens, Greece
2020
Seed

1m

1m

-

Reatia

Leiria, Portugal
2018
Seed

1m

1m

-

SearchSmartly

London, United Kingdom
2019
Seed

2m

1.5m

-

StrideUp

London, United Kingdom
2016
Seed

1.9m

1.9m

-

Wayhome

London, United Kingdom
2016
Seed

12m

10m

-

Wowflow

Vienna, Austria
2018
Seed

1.4m

1.1m

5.4m

Ziggu

Luxembourg, Luxembourg
2017
Seed

1m

1m

-

Sources

News articles

1 This is a good time to start a proptech company December 2020 | TechCrunch

Research reports

2 European PropTech Trends 2020 February 2020 | Proptech1

3 Global PropTech Survey 2019 October 2019 | KPMG

Data sources

Sifted.eu Proprietary data

Dealroom.co Data

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