Emre Kazan and Cem Savas, founders of Plentific, the startup that caught the attention of Brookfield and Mubadala
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Karl Tomusk
Driven by demand for sustainability, health, robotics and other issues, UK proptech startups raised £1.6 billion this year, 360% more than in 2020.
Data compiled by Pi Labs shows that the sector is becoming mainstream, attracting investment from institutional investors in real estate and technology. For example, Plentific’s $100 million fundraiser was recently led by Brookfield, with participation from Mubadala Investment Company.
Globally, $20.6 million was invested in proptech this year, more than double the $9.4 million raised in 2020.
But the figures also show that investment has increased mainly in the UK: since 2016, investment in real estate technology startups has tripled globally, while in the UK it has increased 15-fold.
Faisal Butt, CEO of Pi Labs, said investment had grown significantly due to “operating performance gaps” that had not been addressed for years.
Noting the growing urgency in real estate, and in the world at large, to tackle climate change, Butt said: “As the UK real estate sector recognizes the changes needed to achieve its net zero target, Owners, investors and residents recognize that technology adoption will play a major role in an important role in protecting future assets and meeting sustainability commitments.
“Thanks to the massive influx of capital raised this year and accelerated adoption in the sector, many tech tech companies are reaching scale and we can expect the next round of financing and M&A to drive investment growth in 2022.”
A year with great deals
Along with fundraising data, Pi Labs also analyzed figures on proptech’s M&A activity, identifying 152 acquisitions globally in 2021, the most since listings began and up to 92 in 2020.
The recent consolidation in the sector has resulted in some substantial and even record deals in the sector. This includes:
At the same time, SPAC is becoming a popular route for publicizing companies in this sector. In 2021, this includes Matterport, Latch, SmartRent, We Work, and most recently, the access control business Brivo.
