Proptech Accelerator program pays off
25 October 2018
Charter Hall:
The real estate industry is not immune to the
relentless wave of tech-driven innovation that is reshaping the global
economy, and changing the way customers access information and interact
with companies.
At Charter Hall, we believe the best way to meet the opportunities and
challenges of this disruption is to foster a culture of agile thinking,
entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. We have built this culture to
ensure we keep learning, and keep talking to our customers about their
changing needs so we can deliver smart
property solutions.
Chief Technology Officer Aidan Coleman says Charter Hall has been on an
“innovation journey” for some time now, and our company’s 2018 Proptech
Accelerator program for start-ups and entrepreneurs was a logical
extension of this.
“The start-up ecosystem was a natural place for us to get involved, as we’ve spent the previous two to three years developing our own innovation processes,’’ says Aidan. “It was the right time to look outside of our organisation to build mutually beneficial relationships.
“What we've seen in the last year
or two is an explosion of new
technology emerging in the real estate
space, which is one of the reasons why we felt we needed to get a handle
on what was happening through our Accelerator program.
“We see great opportunities in terms of investment, learning, creating a
broader awareness right across the business of the opportunities and
potential disruption that may come through proptech. This is the next
stage in the evolution of our digital and technology strategy.’’
An Australasian first
The 13-week Charter Hall Proptech Accelerator program, the first of its
kind in Australasia, was run in conjunction with corporate innovation
consultants Collective Campus and designed to maximise participating
start-ups’ chances of success by arming them with knowledge, networks
and funding opportunities.
At the same time, it gave Charter Hall the opportunity to assess the
viability of their business models, as well as their alignment with our
business and where we could add value.
From an initial 50 applicants, 15 were chosen to participate in a
two-day boot camp with industry mentors.
Four startups were then selected to go through the program, and they
were joined by a fifth internal Charter Hall team working on an in-house
innovation initiative. The aim of the program was to deliver 13 months
of growth in 13 weeks through highly targeted product development and
marketing strategies.
Range of proptechs
Proptech can be broadly categorised into three fields: technology to
create smarter buildings and assets; the shared economy, which can
deliver more value from spaces; and property fintech, which promises to
change real estate financial processes. Between them, the five Charter
Hall Accelerator program participants cover the entire spectrum.
Property fintech Estate Baron is a crowdfunding
platform that links property developers with mum-and-dad investors. At
the same time, founder Moresh Kokane is also developing a
blockchain-based fractional property marketplace. Charter Hall is
working with Moresh to assess how this technology could be used to
provide a more frictionless customer experience for international
investors in our funds.
The vision of start-up Inspace XR is to transform the
way buildings are designed, constructed and sold through the use of
virtual and augmented reality. Their unique product automatically
converts architects’ CAD designs into virtual reality with one click.
InSpace XR and Charter Hall are collaborating to investigate how virtual
reality could optimise the design-and-build process for new assets, and
to market properties both to investors and to prospective tenants
Tech firm Snaploader’s world-first software creates interactive 3D
models of buildings that can be easily viewed from any angle, on any
mobile or desktop device, without the need to download an app or
program. It has already proven a potent tool for off-the-plan property
marketing, and could also enable potential Charter Hall tenants to
remotely visualise and assess spaces such as warehouses and offices
available for lease.
Bricks + Agent is a cloud-based business that streamlines property
maintenance by bringing property managers, tradies, tenants and owners
together on a friction-free platform, enabling them to manage jobs
without site visits. Bricks + Agent’s solution was developed for the
residential market, but together with Charter Hall they are exploring
its application in the commercial space, where property maintenance is a
significant expense item.
Flexi-spaces was developed by an in-house Charter Hall team in response
to discussions with tenants around their pain points. It is a digital
marketplace that will allow all Charter Hall tenants across office,
retail and industrial to advertise spare space within their tenancy to
any other customer of Charter Hall nationwide for short-term sub-leases.
Aidan says Charter Hall and the Proptech Accelerator program
participants were all impressed with what it had achieved.
“The program has been a huge success and we are certainly keen to explore round two,’’ he says. “We’ll be looking to recast the net and fine-tune this further in areas that are most relevant for our business and customers, as well as taking on broad feedback and learnings from participants to shape a future program.
“This may include broadening program participants and focusing on specific proptech areas …watch this space!’’
--ENDS--
Source: Charter Hall - www.charterhall.com.au
Contact: N/A
External Links:
Estate Baron: https://www.charterhall.com.au/News/2018/Property-crowdfunding-opening-up-new-horizons/
Inspace XR: https://www.charterhall.com.au/News/2018/Meet-the-people-behind-PropTech/
Snaploader: https://www.charterhall.com.au/News/2018/Meet-the-people-behind-PropTech1/
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