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

TPG, ACORE Raise Billions For Opportunistic CRE Funds

Newmark Cuts Earnings Outlook Despite Record Third Quarter

Battered Mortgage REIT Suspends Dividend To Preserve Cash

From Pandemic Darling To Cautionary Tale: Pickleball Clubs Face A Reckoning After Betting Big On Retail Space

Weil Gotshal Wind-Down Leaves 830K SF Hole In America's Office Market

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Reports Unexpected Q3 Net Loss

Tyko Capital Sets New Record For Florida's Largest Construction Loan

Office Recovery Moving Faster Than Expected, CoStar Finds

How Microsoft, Coca-Cola And Amazon Are Adapting Their Offices For AI Age

CoStar To Acquire Aerial Imagery Company For $730M

BXP Execs See Better Returns In Building Offices Than Buying Them

JLL's Q3 Revenue Surges Amid Strong Leasing, Capital Markets Activity