On November 6, Reed MIDEM, organizer of global real estate conference, networking and business events, together with MetaProp NYC, the premier real estate technology nexus and early stage PropTech accelerator, united global leaders in real estate, technology and venture capital at MIPIM PropTech NYC – the flagship event of NYC Real Estate Tech Week. The conference was attended by over 1,000 delegates from 42 countries and hosted more than 600 companies.
MIPIM PropTech NYC, headlined by Ric Clark, Senior Managing Partner and Chairman of Brookfield Property Group, Chris Marlin, President of Lennar International, Michael Phillips, President of Jamestown, L.P and Scott Rechler, Chairman and CEO of RXR, explored an array of themes including artificial intelligence, big data, the future of cities and modern investing. Panels and discussions throughout the day aimed to answer universal questions pertaining to this technological shift.
“MIPIM PropTech NYC was a major success. Owners, investors and innovators had the opportunity to get an inside look at the international integration of technology in the real estate industry,” said Filippo Rean, Head of Real Estate Markets, Reed MIDEM. “I am excited to see how our conferences and summits continue to grow as PropTech becomes more mature and technologically advanced. I am confident that attendees of this year’s event left with a greater understanding of the future of the industry.”
Insightful Conversations and Exhibitions Led by Industry Leaders
The all-day conference hosted numerous industry leading professionals to speak and participate in thought-provoking discussions on the topic of PropTech. In addition to the scheduled conference program, MIPIM PropTech NYC also featured an exhibition hall to host dozens of innovative companies in the PropTech sector. These companies showcased their use of cutting-edge technology such as blockchain and augmented reality within the real estate industry.
Key messages to emerge from MIPIM PropTech NYC were that innovation and collaboration are crucial to stay competitive in the rapidly transforming industry. In addition, panelists agreed that the adoption of technology allows real estate companies to build on their traditional brick-and-mortar business models to address new client needs. However, since many of these new products differ from traditional real estate tools, collaboration with the technology sector is necessary to successfully implement these changes.
The event kicked off with an invite-only CEO breakfast on the topic of “PropTech and Design: The Future of Modular Construction.” The discussion was led by Sanjiv Sanghavi, Vice President of Product at Knotel. Mr. Sanghavi explained how Knotel is implementing PropTech to make the company more efficient and cohesive.
“With PropTech, we are building connections between all of our buildings and things that we do. This technology allows us to collect data and aggregate it to make our projects more cost-effective and sustainable,” said Mr. Sanghavi.
The “Corporate Development: Driving Innovation Through Partnerships” panel was moderated by Dan Fasulo, Senior Managing Director of Data & Tech at Newmark Knight Frank and featured Karen Hollinger, Vice President of Corporate Initiatives at AvalonBay Communities, Melanie Kirkwood Ruiz, CIO Americas at Cushman & Wakefield and Anthony Liu, New Ventures Lead at Swire Properties Limited.
A panel titled “Industry CEOs: Empowering Business Through Collaboration” was moderated by Chantal Clavier of Heidrick & Struggles and featured Ric Clark, Senior Managing Partner and Chairman of Brookfield Property Group, Chris Marlin, President of Lennar International and Scott Rechler, Chairman and CEO of RXR. The panel explored PropTech’s overall impact on their industry-leading companies in addition to how their organizations are adjusting to the digital era. They discussed the positives and negatives of increased collaboration across the sector, how real estate is adopting the service industry and how they plan to serve their clients in the future using PropTech.
“What does technology mean to me in 5 words? Reduce friction and improve service,” said Mr. Rechler.
“PropTech makes our clients’ lives much more efficient, it helps us move from a brick-and-mortar industry to a service industry,” said Mr. Clark.
“At Lennar International, technology is used for simplification for the homebuilders, the shareholders, our trade partners and customers,” said Mr. Marlin.
Julie Samuels, Executive Director of Tech:NYC, delivered a keynote speech titled “Propelling Tech for Sustainable Cities.” Her keynote was moderated by Peter Grant, Journalist at The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Samuels explained how New York City is adopting technology in all sectors and how the City can do more to attract top talent. She stated “Increasingly, every company is a tech company. They all have technological needs. The explosion of PropTech shows this trend in real estate.”
Michael Phillips, President of Jamestown, L.P., also delivered a keynote speech on his company’s integration of PropTech. He presented the audience with several case studies that illustrated how Jamestown is implementing new technologies in their buildings across the country, including Chelsea Market in Manhattan. Mr. Phillips said “We think our primary role in the real estate space is to partner with the tenant to attract and retain talent.”
The “PropTech Founders: Raising and Scaling” panel was moderated by Nick Romito, CEO and Co-Founder of VTS Nick Romito and featured panelists Jessica Black, Co-Founder and COO of Hello Alfred, Matt Ellis, CEO and Founder of Measurabl, Amol Sarva, Co-Founder and CEO of Knotel and Guy Zipori, CEO and Co-Founder of Skyline AI. The panelists agreed “PropTech investors should not only provide capital, they should be partners.”
The final conference, “Venture Capital and Corporate Venture: Exploring Alternative Investing Opportunities” was moderated by Clelia Peters, Co-Founding Partner of MetaProp NYC, and featured David Gerster, Vice President of JLL, Sean Muellers, Managing Director of The Blackstone Group, and Samuli Sirén, Managing Partner of Redstone Digital GmbH. The panelists explored how their recruiting process has changed in digital era and how technology is influencing the human aspect of real estate.
“There are very few startups in the PropTech space and I think we are still in the very early stages of the sector,” said Mr. Sirén. “We are dealing with the largest asset class in the world. The room to expand is huge.”
“The customer is so important in real estate. We have to watch customer interaction with these new products very closely for them to succeed,” said Mr. Muellers.
Trailblazing Startups Compete to Advance to Final Competition
MIPIM PropTech NYC also hosted a startup competition. The goal of the startup competition was to identify the most innovative companies that address modern challenges to the real estate industry. Six startups pitched their companies to a prestigious committee in front of an audience comprised of real estate and PropTech professionals at the conference. The following two startups were selected to move forward to the MIPIM Startup Competition finals at the MIPIM 2019 conference in Cannes, France:
- District Technologies: District helps landlords move from “rent” to “relationship” through a best-in-class, artificial intelligence platform and mobile app that connects users to the things they love in and around buildings.
- onTarget: onTarget is a construction-oriented cloud-based application that allows property investors, managers, contractors and other vendors to connect through an online dashboard.
“We were honored to host all six incredible startups that participated in the competition at MIPIM PropTech NYC,” said Nicolas Kozubek, Director of MIPIM PropTech at Reed MIDEM. “It was difficult to choose only two to advance to the finals at MIPIM 2019. I am excited to see what all of these innovative companies achieve in their bright futures. Companies like these are truly driving the adoption of technology in the real estate sector.”
Global PropTech Award Winners Recognized
MIPIM PropTech NYC closed by announcing the winners of the Second Annual Global PropTech Awards. The winners of these prestigious awards are listed below:
- Top Founder Award: Michael Rudoy, Co-Founder of Jetty
- Top Technology Award: Dealpath
- Top Executive Award: Riggs Kubiak of Honest Buildings
- Top Innovator Award: Convene
- Top Investor Award: Jim Pettit of Navitas Capital
- Top Association Award: CoreNet Global
“We received hundreds of nominations for the Second Annual Global PropTech Awards,” said Aaron Block, Co-Founder & Managing Director, MetaProp NYC. “Winners were selected through a rigorous voting process and we are pleased to honor these companies and individuals that are pushing the boundaries of the real estate industry every day. They have gone above and beyond to positively impact the PropTech sector and we are excited to see what they accomplish in the future.”
Next week, MIPIM PropTech will expand its global footprint with MIPIM PropTech Asia in Hong Kong on November 26 and 27, 2018. MIPIM PropTech has also hosted a variety of groundbreaking conferences throughout Europe and North America. MIPIM PropTech will return to New York City next year for a two-day event on November 12 and 13, 2019.
