Bloodbath: How $1.4B in Investor Money Is Threatening the Real Estate Tech Industry

Twitter/@richsarkis

Although more than $1.4B is expected to be poured into real estate tech startups this year, the competition is manically fierce. Compare that number to the $438M just two years ago and it makes sense.

"It's pretty easy to get a meeting if you are disrupting something in real estate," data company Reonomy CEO Richard Sarkis says. But CEO of virtual tour company Floored Dave Eisenberg calls it a "bloodbath" out there.

Just because a faster, more efficient software comes out doesn't mean a tech firm will succeed. For years, tech companies have been trying to make brokers go extinct without avail.

"The reason there’s a graveyard of technology companies in real estate is they try to disrupt just to disrupt," says Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass, a technology-driven real estate brokerage.

Tech firms fail to replicate the hand-holding that buyers and renters need when making such big decisions. "Just make it better," Robert says.

The next sector of the industry for attempted domination may be construction, with startups like FieldLens on the way. But future success is uncertain, though drones and augmented reality have been making headway lately. [WSJ]

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Willy Walker On The Risks And Sacrifices Behind Walker & Dunlop's Growth

Howard Hughes Texas President Jim Carman To Step Down

Apartment Rent Declines Slowing, Demand Rising As Renter Pool Expands

Prologis Warns Higher Borrowing Costs Will Slow Industrial Deals, Development

After Rig Collapse, Citadel HQ Project Resumes With Safety Protocol Update

Swedish Real Estate Giant To Buy Stockbridge For Up To $550M

Space Race: How The Private Sector's Orbital Aspirations Are Driving CRE On Earth

Regulators Reject Proposed Rules For Data Centers On Nation's Largest Grid

Brookdale Senior Living To Buy 30 Communities It Operates From Welltower For $290M

Brookfield-Backed Castlelake Dives Into CRE CLO Market With $1.1B Deal

JLL Taps Mark Gibson For Newly Created U.S. CEO Role

How Thermal Imaging Provides Proactive Security Measures For Data Centers