The first ever Propel Networking Summit brought together innovation experts from both sides of
the Atlantic to discuss the future of proptech in an animated online conference.
Conceived as a “kick-off for our major event later this year”, according to Propel by MIPIM Director, Nicolas Kozubek, June’s two day Propel Networking Summit proved a mouthwatering taster for the return of Propel by MIPIM NYC 2021.
Slated for 8-9 December 2021, Propel by MIPIM NYC will once more be an in-person event, representing
a “great occasion for real estate and tech professionals to reconnect together after these difficult events for everyone”, Kozubek said, launching the online summit.
Promoting the New York connection, the opening keynote from Lindsay Greene, Chief Strategy Officer – New York City Economic Development Corporation, described proptech as “one of our biggest and brightest tech sectors”, calling NYC “a global hub for proptech”. She added: “New York brings together a lot of those conditions for success, that is a fusion of the real estate industry and companies that are here; a lot of capital and funding; and we have a lot of talent that is specific to tech, and to every kind of building you could possibly imagine.”
The summit underlined that there is no better time to be in the industry. “Confidence in proptech is at record levels,” signaled Aaron Block, Founder of venture capital giant MetaProp, kicking off day one in conversation with Kozubek. He went on summarize the tantalizing state of play in the proptech world as a whole. “We’re thrilled about the momentum in the space and the snap-back in activity after the crisis,” he said. “The recovery has been beyond our expectation from an innovation perspective. Not just the number of start-ups – 200 a month in the proptech space – but also the industry innovators who are leaning in in a way that we haven’t seen before.”
Yet the conference also found time to address proptech and real estate’s pain points, starting with the
diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) challenge and going right through to matters of sustainability, with
carbon-related tax hikes just a few short years away.
Meanwhile, an asset class networking session underlined that proptech professionals have never been in greater demand. Louisa Dickins, Co-Founder of global proptech recruitment platform LMRE, said: “The candidate-hungry market is driving up pay rates – 30% increases in some cases as a classic result of supply and demand. On average, active candidates are receiving three job offers.”
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