Discussing the significant transformations that are making a real difference in the real estate industry, each of the expert shared their own experience and contribution. Shivani Karia Jhaveri, Co-Founder & CMO, BLOX.XYZ, articulated, “We recognized a deficiency in all-encompassing property solutions in India, leading to the creation of a customer-focused platform for property discovery, reservation, and site visit coordination. Over the past two years, our dependable real estate services have aided over 100 developers monthly through our robust backend ecosystem and exclusive offerings throughout Mumbai for a seamless home-buying experience.”
Sudhanshu Kejriwal, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Keydemand, added, “During the product development phase, we noticed prop techs primarily focused on residential projects, leaving commercial real estate untapped. Harnessing our co-founders' B2B expertise, we established KeyDemand to address this gap by streamlining corporate leasing needs on a unified platform.”
Rahul Bansal, Co-Founder, Propacity said, “With our experience in various industries, we observed a pervasive issue in property development and sales. Consequently, we established a platform targeting brokers and developers, addressing four critical aspects: trusted vendors, reliable intermediaries, insightful data, and expedited development processes."
Garima Bharadwaj, Co-Founder, Enlite stated, “Amid rapid urbanization, prioritizing sustainable construction is crucial. Enlight focuses on enhancing buildings' efficiency and eco-friendliness through wireless automation systems. Easily retrofitted to any structure, our non-invasive solutions facilitate HVAC, lighting, and maintenance management. The "Know Your Building" feature supports decision-making in investment, tenancy, and asset management.”
Akhil Saraf, Founder & CEO, Reloy shared, “We specialize in managing loyalty and referral programs for real estate firms, delivering seamless customer experiences from booking to possession. Through exceptional service, our approach generated thousands of crores in referral sales last year and distributed 7.5 crores in cashback incentives."
Dheeraj S, Fund Manager, Earth Fund, added, “Brigade Group identified the sluggish technology adoption in real estate and launched Brigade Reap, Asia's first real estate tech accelerator. We have supported numerous startups, resulting in significant success, and recently introduced our early-stage venture capital fund, Earth Fund to support the innovators.”
Sapna Srivastava, Editor Realty+ concurred that the new age companies and tech start-ups are creating a paradigm shift in the realty sector with their innovative products and services. ”Proptech adoption presents an exciting frontier for the real estate industry and a vast potential to tap, but resistance to change and cost barriers still pose difficulties among mid to small scale developers.”
UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY
Rahul Bansal said, “Major challenges for tech companies entail comprehending customer needs and accurate audience segmentation. Addressing these issues effectively can result in considerable advancements within the real estate technology sector.”
Akhil Saraf added, “Consumer technology originally focused on quick purchases, but real estate requires a different approach due to its high value and rarity. To address this, we spent six years developing software and managed services for real estate, promoting industry-wide technological adoption while adapting to real-world scenarios."
Shivani Karia Jhaveri mentioned, “The unavailability of data in the market is due to fragmented data recording, hindering predictive analysis and demand forecasting. To address this, Blox developed a SaaS CRM system with a centralized database that analyses and segments data, increasing online home sales. In India, property registration faces obstacles due to antiquated procedures and limited digital integration. Blockchain technology can address these issues, making the process more efficient and secure for all stakeholders involved.”
Sudhanshu Kejrihurdles like client education and expectation management. With a 100-crore transaction value, we need to focus on market acceptance, technology adoption, and patience to scale up.”
Garima Bharadwaj gave example of Enlite, a hardware-based engineering company. “We once faced challenges in competing against industry giants and attracting investors. With the rise of sustainable investments, programs from accelerators and incubators, now support hardware-focused companies working in energy efficiency and decarbonization are also successfully raising funds.”
Dheeraj S shared, “The real estate industry is worth over $300 trillion but, has been slow to adopt technology. With only wal elucidated, “PropTech start-ups face initial 1% productivity growth in the construction sector over the past 20 years, it's crucial to utilize technology and implement sustainable practices.”
As per Sapna Srivastava, industry regulations have not been able to keep pace with the fast evolving technology adoption in real estate and many a times pose compliance issues majorly in terms of data protection and privacy laws. Collaboration between real estate firms, technology providers and regulatory bodies is required.”
TECHNOLOGY A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR
Garima Bharadwaj said, “Digitalization in real estate enhances efficiency and decision-making, contributing to India's projected $1 trillion asset growth by 2030.”
Shivani Karia Jhaveri added, “Generative AI is the next phase that can foster true collaboration, generating data, predictive analysis, and forecasting, which are essential in real estate given the lengthier sales funnel and multi-stakeholder nature of each sale.”
Rahul Bansal commented “Despite low-tech adoption in the industry, cooperation with 80 developers across various cities shows that there is an underlying strong intent towards tech adoption. Technology ecosystems must extend beyond tier one cities for maximum impact.”
Akhil Saraf added, “The future of AR and VR in real estate is uncertain, but AI holds significant potential for personalized communication and tailored customer interactions.”
Sudhanshu Kejriwal added, “Technology has broadened opportunities across India, reaching remote areas and allowing clients to connect with brands and lease properties without physical travel.”
Dheeraj S added, “In the context of B2B and B2C, while, developers should focus on workflow automation through smart contracts and blockchain, customers should prioritize fintech advancements like investment access and fractional ownership.”
Sapna Srivastava concluded, “The top three prop-tech trends include technology integration in commercial real estate, the continued prevalence of artificial intelligence in the industry, and the emergence of customer-centric solutions.”
WHILE INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE, IT'S CRUCIAL TO ESTABLISH AN INDUSTRY-WIDE DATA REGISTRY ACCESSIBLE TO ALL FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY-SHIVANI KARIA JHAVERI
TECHNOLOGICAL INTEGRATION PROVIDES VITAL DATA ON SUSTAINABILITY, DECARBONISATION, AND ENERGY USAGE, ENABLING TARGETED IMPROVEMENTS- GARIMA BHARADWAJ
AI AND WEALTH TECH ARE TWO CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN LEVERAGE INDIA'S LARGEST ASSET CLASS FROM A $5 TO $10 TRILLION-DOLLAR ECONOMY- AKHIL SARAF
APART FROM THE BUSINESS BENEFITS, PROPTECH COMPANIES MUST ALSO FOCUS ON THE NEEDS AND MIND-SET OF THE PEOPLE WHO WILL UTILIZE THE TECHNOLOGY- SAPNA SRIVASTAVA
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS TRANSPIRE SWIFTLY WITH INCESSANT UPGRADES POST-LAUNCH, WHILE REAL ESTATE IS SLOW IN ADOPTING CHANGES THAT CREATES A CHALLENGE FOR THE COMPANIES- RAHUL BANSAL
TECHNOLOGY CAN ALSO PROVIDE THE SOLUTION FOR CHALLENGES CONCERNING UNSKILLED LABOR IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY- DHEERAJ S
SECURING FUNDS, STRATEGIC MARKET CHOICES, AGILE PRODUCT OFFERINGS, AND EXPANDING GEOGRAPHICALLY ARE VITAL FOR PROPTECH SCALING-UP- SUDHANSHU KEJRIWAL
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