ESCP Business School, in association with the Principality of Monaco, publishes the 1st annual PropTech barometer

Thanks to the work of Professor Jaime P. Luque and the support of the Principality of Monaco, ESCP Business School publishes today the first annual barometer of trends in the world of PropTech. Under the patronage of Robin Rivaton, a French investor and essayist specialising in issues related to smart cities, real estate and new technologies, the PropTech Global Trend 2020 barometer offers an in-depth analysis of the PropTech sector and worldwide trends.

PropTech: a latecomer but one rich in opportunities

 PropTech (also known as Real Estate Tech, Retech, Estech or RealTech) is the abbreviation of “property technology”. The term is a reference to the software, tools, platforms, applications, websites and other digital solutions used by real estate professionals. It also encompasses Contech (construction technology) and CREtech (commercial real estate) and is sometimes linked to the world of Fintech (financial technology).

Long considered a relatively traditional sector, real estate is undergoing a profound transformation, and its various evolutions merit considerable scrutiny, because they concern all of us. We are all clients of the industry, and we will all be affected, directly or indirectly, by the changes taking place within it.

This wave of innovation in the real estate sector is speeding up due to technological developments, together with generational changes which are highly influenced by the digital revolution.

This late boom is characterised by unprecedented dynamism within an industry that seeks to make up for the delay, and which is immensely attractive to investors. PropTech offers numerous opportunities around three pillars, which are outlined in this barometer:

• Access to information, thanks, mainly, to complete data which are more readily available and at a lower cost
• The increased efficiency of transactions through, for example, virtual signature tools and platforms
• Management and control using laptops or other, increasingly sophisticated, devices, which now serve as control panels for real estate management

PropTech: a dynamic, expanding concept

In this first edition, PropTech Global Trend 2020 analyses the evolution of the sector, from its emergence in the United States in 1976 to the present, using data visualisation to trace the different variations. Notably, the barometer highlights the periods of strong dynamism of a sector that raised 84.4 billion USD between 2000 and 2019, and analyses the evolution of the funding which has contributed to its development.

The barometer also shines a spotlight on the actors, companies and financiers that are evolving in the PropTech market largely dominated by the United States, which accounts for 56% of the world’s PropTech companies. It offers a geographical analysis of these forces, focusing in particular on the financial aspect by revealing, for example, that the main funds in the sector are raised by American, Chinese and Indian start-ups.

It also proposes a breakdown by category, underlining that, at the present time, investors are most interested in connected objects, home services and long-term rentals.

In total, this barometer analyses 1,724 companies in 12 categories and 64 countries, for 3,118 investors.

The 10 leading PropTech companies in the world (funds raised between 2000 and 2019)

“This initial evaluation and all the data gathered should make it possible to analyse the trends and to follow, year after year, the evolutions of an industry which was a latecomer to digitalisation. The aim of this annual barometer is to provide a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around the PropTech sector, to reinforce the ecosystem, and, finally, to create synergies which benefit both the economy and society”, says Jaime P. Luque, ESCP Madrid campus Professor and Director of the Real Estate Tech Innovation programme.

“The Real Estate Tech barometer stands at the intersection of two vital issues for the Principality: real estate, which is an essential and strategic economic sector for Monaco, and digitalisation, which is one of the priority vectors of its present and future development. This barometer is the foundation stone of the Monegasque ambition to become a world Real Estate Tech centre”, explains Frédéric Genta, interministerial delegate in charge of the digital transformation of the Principality of Monaco.

    “The World’s First Business School, ESCP, has always been at the forefront of great transformations. Today, those transformations are technological and environmental. In Real Estate, these two dimensions complement one another. We are proud to bring together our expertise with that of ESCP alumni such as Robin Rivaton and Frédéric Genta, leaders in their sector”, adds Frank Bournois, Dean of ESCP.