Proptech Fundraising Hits Record High as Investors Pour $9.5B Into Sector
By Celia Young November 23, 2021 4:47 pm
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The proptech industry is booming, to the tune of $9.5 billion.
Investors and venture capitalists dropped the most cash ever raised into the property technology sector from the start of the year through mid-November, breaking the previous all-time record of $9 billion invested in all of 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Proptech startups have even found profit during the pandemic, as landlords rush to implement them in their portfolio to offer commercial office tenants more safety measures and amenities in hopes of luring workers back to the office.
Some businesses have pushed their landlords to improve their buildings’ indoor air quality — a factor people have become more conscious of while dealing with an airborne virus. San Francisco-based startup Awair is seeing its company grow 400 percent year over year, while Oxygen8, which provides ventilation systems, saw demand from universities, schools and senior living facilities for its products, Commercial Observer reported.
Other startups with broader missions — like affordable housing compliance — are getting in on the market. Pronto Housing, which seeks to streamline the affordable housing process for landlords, owners and residents, closed on a $2.5 million seed round led by Los Angeles-based venture capital investor Wilshire Lane Partners this month. Keyway, a startup that uses data science to identify commercial real estate opportunities, nabbed $15 million in seed funding two weeks ago, CO reported.
The rush to pour money into proptech comes as venture capital funds, in general, have seen higher demand this year because of the promise of high returns coupled with historically low interest rates in the United States, WSJ reported.
The proptech boom has inspired other industries, like insurance, to take notes. Technology for tracking and managing insurance is attracting more investment as a potential way to improve the efficiency of the insurance process, CO reported.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
