PROPTECH WILL CONTINUE TO INNOVATE IN 2022
The real estate will be impacted significantly this year with developing synergy between technology and businesses as alsovarious stakeholders including developers, investors, occupiers and employees. Furthermore, with demand for the residential properties among tech savvy millennial buyers rapidly increasing, Rohit Gera, Managing Director, Gera Developments is of the view that faster development cycles, disruptive business models and increased competition are Though we are still scratching the surface, the intent is to start and we could see that there’s no dearth of it. Sales The effects of Covid-19 on the growth of Proptech cannot be downplayed. The Indian government’s ban on PARADIGM SHIFTS IN THE PROP-TECH SEGMENT While the real estate sector is already identifying the potential of technology, the various initiatives by the government will also be a driving factor for the Proptech sector’s growth. The government’s flagship campaigns such as Digital India, Smart Cities Concept etc. are accelerating the holistic use of technology in real estate. If we go through the industry statistics we can see that the Proptech fundraising recorded an all-time high in 2021 with $9.5 billion from investors and venture capitalists in the mid of November and this figure breaks the record of $9 billion fundraising in 2019. Kanika Gupta Shori added, “Real estate companies will increasingly leverage Big data in combination with artificial intelligence, machine-learning models and optimized processes to predict user behaviour and decisions resulting in most appropriate search recommendations. Investments in Virtual Reality and 3D visualization software along with digital property buying models that make property tractions delightful will see a spike in 2022. Along with this, real estate businesses will foray into blockchain technologies to make property transactions secure and automate transactions. Lastly, automated rental and property management platforms that allow customers to automate routine client services, maintenance requests, communication and leasing will be a new normal in the property sector.” Rohit Gera shared his own initiatives, “We have always dared to be different, challenged the status quo, with customer-facing applications and solutions like the GeraWorld® App- a mobile application designed to provide a hassle -free customer interaction with Gera Developments. Likewise, Gera Advantage App- provides hassle free contractor / vendor interaction with Gera Developments. We have also implemented robotic process automation in our organization. We now use RPA for Indexing Documents in Document Management System, Web Scrapping for Business Intelligence and Bank Reconciliation Process (BRS) of all the Gera Group Companies Bank Accounts. We have leveraged technology to impact every business aspect to help deliver to our stakeholders with better efficiencies and superior experience.” Govind Rai added, “2022 should be a turning point for the Proptech sector in India, for global markets it is already riding high. But, for the Indian market post RERA, we have started witnessing some key structural changes and customer confidence. And this decade should be a game-changer of sorts for this industry. From a technology and digital perspective, we saw the following key changes: Aggregator Platforms will further start consolidating and might see some category kings emerging. That could mean that no singular platform will own it all but different categories will have some unique players emerging. Primary, Secondary, Rentals, Weekend homes, Commercial, Co-working and Co-Living, these categories have started seeing deeper integrations and emergence of new players trying to sharpen their offering and trying to become synonymous to one category each. Martech and Proptech Convergence will emerge as big winners in the coming time. Platforms focusing on delivering lower acquisition costs for leads, site visits, and bookings for realtors with location data intelligence play and automation in campaign management or real estate-focused ad networks are some exciting movements we shall witness in coming years. Proptech and Fintech Duo - A lot many companies would be solving the customer journey issues that follow home buying with regards to down payment assistance and loans. We shall soon see some aggressive play in this space by aggregator platforms. Transaction Management - This segment is still to take off here in India but the speed with which Govt is hell-bent on using technology and is digitally transforming most of its operations. This segment shall start witnessing good growth adding a lot more transparency and efficiency to the overall process. The Unknown - How Metaverse and blockchain would transform operations and processes in the future is one thing we got to keep a tab on. We can’t ignore it and there could be a series of surprises that would be in store in this space. We can’t really predict the impact yet. But, these two overhauling everything and, ways we do things today wouldn’t be a huge surprise if it happens.” THE ROAD AHEAD According to industry reports, over 50 percent of the real estate buying decisions take place through online searches and with the growing internet user base which is expected to increase up to one billion by 2025, the opportunity for the Proptech players in 2022 is colossal. Also technology is revolutionizing the whole industry in more ways than one and throwing up more opportunities for all stakeholders. Rohit Gera stated, “There has been a tremendous consolidation in the real estate industry over the last few years. The project portfolio of the larger developers has increased substantially. In addition, all developers are required to deliver more efficiently in a very competitive environment. Technology is an extremely important enabling factor that will help developers compete and increase the efficiency within their organisations. The potential for the use of proptech in the real estate sector therefore is tremendous. There is a need to use technology in project planning and monitoring, customer acquisition and relationship management, design, team collaboration, project management, marketing and so on. Kanika Gupta Shori added. “Real estate software will simplify and transform business workflows by reducing physical interactions and meeting expectations of consumers. “We will see a rise in smart space solutions that can map the topography of working space interiors and provide insights on how to make the workplace safe and engaging will gain prominence. Touch less asset & access control systems are also an accelerating trend in proptech that will transform building functionality and make assets safer to use, access and control. With access verification modules and contactless integration with various asset services, asset control tech will simplify building navigation. Smart real estate value assessment software that leverages AI and calculates the valuation of a property in minutes with the help of some specific data, resulting in faster processing of property sales without any broker is another opportunity that will flourish in 2022. Not to mention, the adoption of visualization tools in rental real estate to make search and renting experiences more interesting.” Govind Rai expressed, “Since the Real Estate sector is still marred by multiple transparencies and efficiency issues, there’s a lot of opportunities available in terms of problems that are calling out to be solved. Last year we saw 2 start-ups emerging as Unicorns. This year we shall see 3-4 more unicorns. And anywhere from $ 600 Million to $ 800 Million of funding in Proptech in India in 2022 alone is expected,” “Business success relies heavily on the optimal utilization of technology. Critical applications such as Sales force or back office financial systems such as our ERP solution, we approach business by utilizing information technology to its fullest.”-ROHIT GERA “From a technology and digital perspective, this year came with a reckoning that those who aren’t thinking big and are not planning to adapt and evolve will be left behind.-GOVIND RAI Technology is increasingly becoming an attractive asset for real estate investors & buyers, looking for an efficient and secure foray in the real estate segment. Due to this there are many new opportunities for Proptech companies to witness high returns on their investment and future growth.
“Year 2021 was an eventful year for Square Yards as we continued to build pioneering tech products to digitally disrupt the real estate value chain and add significant arsenal to our core segments, in a bid to remain relevant and competitive. We filed 12 international patents in USA for breakthrough technology innovations in VR and 3D landscape.”-KANIKA GUPTA SHORI
Proptech will mark its strong presence in the real estate industry to bring evolutionary trends in the sector. The experts believe that the year 2022 will be dynamic as it will set off innovations in design, planning and amenities befitting the preferences of buyers.
highlighting the increasingly essential role of technology and automation in business. “Business success relies heavily on the optimal utilization of technology. Critical
applications such as Sales force or back office financial systems such as our ERP solution, we approach business by utilizing information technology to its fullest.”
Govind Rai, Co-Founder & CEO Insomniacs elaborating the scenario stated, “From a technology and digital perspective, this year came with a reckoning that
those who aren’t thinking big and are not planning to adapt and evolve will be left behind. Thus, we saw the following key changes - For brokers and developer’s alike
technology and automation play became a top priority.
and Marketing automation plays w.r.t to CRM, Marketing Attribution, Data Analytics tools, Virtual Walkthrough tools, and location intelligence platforms queries were
most in demand. Digital has started consolidating its share to 25%-30% in the Launch phase and 50% in the sustenance phase.
Facebook and Google still remained the top platforms for lead gen but OTT, native and programmatic platforms have started making inroads while the brand campaigns in
short emerged as the new go-to option for bigger brands. In addition, technology aggregator’s platforms have started taking steps towards larger forward and backward
integration especially moving towards transactions. This transition was long due.”
As per Kanika Gupta Shori, Founder and COO, Square Yards, the real estate sector is now proactively investing in technologies that bring valuable information to customers’ fingertips and make property transactions easier. “Year 2021 was an eventful year for Square Yards as we continued to build pioneering tech products to digitally disrupt the real estate value chain and add significant arsenal to our core segments, in a bid to remain relevant and competitive. We filed 12 international patents in USA for breakthrough technology innovations in VR and 3D landscape. On the business front, we helped sell ~7500 houses and helped property management and have done Interiors for ~500+ clients in the first year of launch.”
PROPTECH BOOM DURING PANDEMIC
The technological advancements in real estate were taking place at a slow pace and real estate companies were quite slow in adapting to technology, but the pandemic
accelerated digital transformation in the sector and Proptech ~10000+ customers with mortgage finance worth Rs 4000Cr in 2021. We helped manage ~1000+ houses under has emerged as a real game-changer in the real estate.
physical interactions prompted both service providers and clients to find alternative ways of doing business leading to adopting of modern methods of doing business. Now buyers are finding it easy and convenient to engage with the property companies from the comfort of their homes. Though, Proptech ventures have been around since 2002 but the work from home policy fuelled rapid growth of tech solution ventures and led to mushrooming of number of Proptech start-ups in this space. Pre pandemic
the real estate industry heavily relied on physical meet-ups and lots of travel but this was no longer an option when travel restrictions were put up between countries and within countries. Thus, the practices such as land prospecting, financing, valuation and property management too have moved to the virtual world
Tags : PROPTECH FIRM PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS REAL ESTATE Rohit Gera Managing Director Gera Developments Kanika Gupta Shori Founder and COO Square Yards. Govind Rai Co-Founder & CEO Insomniacs