Proptech’s rapid growth attracted a record-breaking amount of venture capital in 2021.

Private investment into the sector hit $32B this year, a 28% increase from 2020 and a 3.23% bump from 2019, according to the Center for Real Estate Technology & Innovation's 2021 Real Estate Tech Venture Funding Report.

These figures reflect a maturing sector and market; CRETI noted that more venture capital investments are moving to mid- and late-stage firms than in previous years, and numerous SPAC mergers — such as Latch and View's go-public deals — and major acquisitions took place, suggesting more certainty and bigger players entering the fray.

“Following a year of uncertainty, the venture capital and real estate tech entrepreneur market is back in a meaningful way,” Center for Real Estate Technology & Innovation Chairman Ashkán Zandieh said in a statement. "The continued growth of the sector has seen new investors across multiple stages enter the market, including private equity groups and institutional organizations."

Overall, global funding concentrated on residential tech, which received 49% of investments versus just 7.6% for tech focused on commercial owners and tenants. But that figure is set to continue to increase.

In the last decade, large brokerages have invested at least $1.5B in proptech firms and technologies. Analysts told Bisnow that 2022 should be another banner year, with increased attention and funding directed toward construction, spatial analytics and sustainability tools and technologies.