What can founders can do to successfully raise venture capital from real estate tech investors? These tips and strategies can help startups successfully pitch their product to real estate-focused venture funds.

At the Future of Real Estate Tech Summit in Miami, three investors joined a panel to discuss trends in proptech. Michael Beckerman (Founder, CEO of CREtech), Jeff Berman (Partner at Camber Creek), and Andrew Ackerman (Managing Director at UrbanTech Dreamit) are thought leaders in the space and discuss the biggest changes in the market. As the industry grows increasingly aware of the cost and time-saving benefits of real estate technology spurring adoption and boosting sales, investor interest has skyrocketed. In 2017, venture investors deployed over $5 billion in real estate technology, more than 150 times the $33 million invested in 2010.

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. 

Homesnap is a productivity and marketing app for real estate agents. The startup just announced a $14M Series B led by Updata Partners. The startup claims that around 75% of the real estate agents in the United States are using the Homesnap product. 

There are now about 50 million rental homes in the U.S. with 100 million tenants. And this does not even include commercial spaces. The gatekeepers of this huge market are property managers, notoriously busy people who often manage dozens of properties, all with different needs and requirements. Property management still lags behind other industries in terms of innovation, but managers increasingly see tech products as a way to differentiate their spaces and to save money. This webinar is focused on how to sell to property managers.  

Real estate is the most valuable asset in the world. According to Fortune, all of the world’s real estate is worth more than $217,000,000,000. The construction industry employs 6,000,000 people. It also creates close to $1,000,000,000,000 in buildings and structures each year. Take a moment to think about those statistics. They’re mind-blowing. Land and property are extremely valuable. Businesses that develop property and facilitate the exchange of land are also quite profitable. So why are there not more startups disrupting these industries?