We believe that the multi-billion dollar real estate industry is still in its infancy when it comes to digitisation. At Project A we see property tech from a value chain perspective and believe in its huge potential in all related areas (discovery, planning, construction, utilisation, demolition). We are convinced that technology will have an impact on how real estate will be discovered, acquired and managed in the future. Even though we have a broad perspective on the market, three areas have caught our special interest:
Discovery
So far, investment decisions in real estate are mostly made under very limited information availability. Real estate developers trust in existing personal relationships with local brokers to find the right properties. We believe that this information asymmetry is subject to change. Data is widely available but must be aggregated in a meaningful way to discover and develop demand-oriented properties.
Acquisition
Selling real estate is one of the biggest private transactions we do in our lives. Finding the right buyer at the right time is essential for making a good deal. We believe that some parts of this transaction will move online. Technology can help in assessing the value of property, finding the right broker and facilitating the transaction. Our investment in Homeday fosters this hypothesis.
Management
There are more than 40m units in Germany, of which more than half are rented out and need management. Very few property managers have understood the benefit of technology when it comes to managing the lifecycle of their property. We believe that management processes can be simplified, leading to benefits both for property management companies and asset managers.
Investments from our current portfolio in that space:
Homeday