We are thrilled to announce the newest Dreamit cohort, selected from a field of nearly 2,000 pre-Series A startups.

Real estate giants like JLL, CBRE, Newmark, and others are adapting to a new environment in which they are no longer the primary arbiters of market data in the commercial real estate sector. Tech companies with large transaction volume and innovative data collection methods are offering an alternative. In response, large CRE brokerages have diversified their businesses, rolling out advisory services for their clients and moving into areas like property management that are less cyclical than the data-dependent brokerage side of the business.  

According to a new report published by commercial real estate giant JLL, VCs invested $1.05 billion in global construction technology startups in the first half of 2018, a record high. The investment volume in 2018 is already up nearly 30 percent over the 2017 total. These construction tech startups are helping to deliver projects more quickly, to reduce wasted resources and materials, to make worksites safer, to increase coordination among stakeholders on project sites, and to provide new data sources for project leaders. 

According to a new report published by commercial real estate giant JLL, VCs invested $1.05 billion in global construction technology startups in the first half of 2018, a record high. 2018’s investment volume is already up nearly 30 percent over the 2017 total. These startups are helping to deliver projects more quickly, to reduce the amount of resources being consumed, to make worksites safer, to increase coordination among stakeholders in the projects, and to provide new data sources for project leaders. 

Headout, a mobile app that lets consumers book last-minute activities in 15 major cities, has raised $10 million in Series A financing. Nexus Venture Partners and Version One Ventures led the investment in the New York City-based startup, which has raised $12 million to date.

Residential real estate has proven to be a strong driver of economic growth and individual wealth, representing more than 15% of our nation’s GDP. The combined value of housing in the United States reached a record-high $31.8 trillion in 2017, according to Zillow.

Dreamit UrbanTech alum Traxyl is raising $3 million in seed financing with a mission to make optical fiber-quality data connectivity accessible and affordable to everyone. The team will use the funding to develop its machines that build optical fiber networks, to hire employees and find a new warehouse space. The company previously received a Small Business Innovation Research grant totaling nearly $225,000, for third-party lab testing.

Technically Philly covers the launch of Dreamit’s new SecureTech vertical.

Commercial real estate firms are investing heavily in technology startups and established companies that help manage data. The acquisition of FacilitySource comes after the company established itself as the go-to data solution for the facilities management industry and built advanced analytics capabilities that tap into performance data gathered since its founding in 2005. 

There is relatively little opportunity for a moat around scooter businesses apart from being the first to market in any geographic area. This explains why Sequoia pumped $150M into Bird for rapid expansion, and why GV invested $250M into Lime. When companies are built and deployed at scale, users are more likely to choose the product with wider availability. This is what gave Uber a massive advantage in the ride-hailing market, which has many similarities to the mobility market occupied by electric scooter companies. 

JLL is one of the largest players in real estate, with over $7B in revenue and over 77K employees around the world.  Now, the real estate developer and property manager is getting into the property tech investment game with the launch of a new $100 million fund run by corporate subsidiary JLL Spark. 

As the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) celebrates its 100th birthday, NYCEDC is turning to the city's rich ecosystem of smart building innovators to enhance the infrastructure and operations of this New York City landmark. The Smart Buildings Tech Challenge invites applicants to submit proposals to address three key smart building areas. Selected finalists will be invited to a pitch event this summer, and winning proposals will be contracted by NYCEDC to pilot the project at BAT.

CRE property management software startup Workframe announced that it has raised $9.5 million in a Series B funding round led by commercial real estate giant Newmark Knight Frank.

Saskatoon-based startup myComply could be set to revolutionize construction site safety across North America. Timed with Construction Safety Week 2018, myComply has announced its flagship solution that helps to reduce risk by making it easy for general contractors to verify that all trade contractors on site at a construction project are properly trained and safety certifications are current.

CEMEX Ventures, CEMEX’s open innovation platform and Corporate Venture Capital unit, launches “Construction Startup Competition 2018” which objective is to find Tech startups that want to change and disrupt the construction industry.The finalists will pitch their startup to the jury and a pitch will be chosen the winner of 3.000€. The CEMEX Ventures Investment Committee will announce which teams will have the possibility to join CEMEX Ventures for an incubation/acceleration phase and to be invested by CEMEX Ventures.

Uber has acquired dockless electric bike sharing company Jump for an undisclosed amount. The startup had been working since Uber since February after integrating with the Uber app to allow San Fransisco residents to jump on the dockless bikes. Dockless bike sharing is a highly competitive space. Ofo closed $866M in a funding round last month. LimeBike raised $70M in February. Cities around the country are compiling data on the viability of dockless bike sharing programs. 

Total funding for real estate tech startups fell in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the same time span in 2017. The total funding to startups in Q1 of 2018 was approximately $1.4B, which represents a 75% drop from Q4 of 2017. This number does not necessarily mean a slowdown in funding for early-stage startups; in 2017, total funding numbers were ballooned by massive funding rounds from companies like Offerpad, WeWork, and Compass. 

Our mission at Dreamit UrbanTech is to empower startups to transform the built environment by giving startups access to customers, coaching, and capital. Founders enter the 14-week program to scale their businesses and to position themselves to raise their next round of funding. Meet the startups who were selected for the Spring 2018 Dreamit UrbanTech cohort.

Over $5 billion was invested in real estate technology in 2017. The sector has strong momentum, and according to Matt Harris from Bain Capital Ventures, we are entering the third wave of real estate technology.