The Proptech Podcast with Kylie Davis
By Kylie Davis
The Proptech Podcast with Kylie DavisFeb 12, 2021
Proptech Panel - The Use Cases for VR in Real Estate
The first Virtual Reality headset was invented in 1968, and the technology got a huge bump in 2014 when Facebook bought Oculus VR, so why has it taken so long for real estate and property to embrace it? On our first Proptech Panel for 2024, our President, Kylie Davis explores three different and compelling use cases for VR across both residential and commercial real estate. Josh Callaghan from Little Hinges Christian Schwerdtfeger from IMMERSIV Michael Shaw from EnvisionVR Gain exclusive insights into how to use VR in designing, buying, building, selling and maintaining property plus insights into how to integrate VR seamlessly into your real estate business.
Proptech Panel - Enabling Commercial Buildings for the Digital Age
Creating new value from existing assets is one of the big benefits of digital disruption. So how is this playing out in the commercial property sector? Our Proptech Panel for February explores new ways commercial property owners can improve efficiency and realise new revenue streams in their existing buildings to revitalise and add value to tenants without even moving a brick. Join our host Carolyn Trickett from JLL Spark, together with our expert panel Chris Mason from MobileDock, Sean Lucas from Essensys, and Mosstyn Howell from UbiPark as we discuss how delivering better connectivity, parking and loading dock solutions can reduce return-to-office friction and support better building experiences.
LandNow - Tony McEntee and Paul Wilson: Land Sales Made Easy
Now one of the biggest growth categories in the Proptech Awards for 2023 was tech for developers and off the plan sales.
And our next guests are a brand new startup specialising in disgitising how land is sold.
Landnow is a real time marketplace for land sales allowing the building industry to see exactly which blocks are available, their location and specifications to ensure they are suitable for different house designs and most importantly, the ability to put a block on hold. It replaces the very slow and laborious system of emailing pdfs of stock lists and constant phone and email tag - sometimes over a week or more - to see if a block was available to purchase.
Landnow launched in October in Perth where builder reps sell more than 70% of all land but they have big plans to go national.
Essensys - Sean Lucas: Tech Infrastructure Out of the Box
So buckle up for a niche - but super fascinating - Proptech in this episode with my guest Sean Lucas from Essensys.
Essensys deliver end to end solutions for digital access for flex spaces including connectivity, access control and network infrastructure.
Sounds simple but you know what they say - simple at the front means a lot of complication out the back. And the nature of shared office space with all different types of computers and systems plugging in exponentially increases that complication.
And with hybrid working changing so many of our office spaces, and flexible working space growing by a huge 30% globally, the services Essensys offers are in strong demand from commercial office owners.
Neighbourlytics - Jessica Christiansen-Franks: Real Data From The Neighbourhood
Brene Brown said famously that data is a story with soul. And our next guest is a Proptech founder working to put the soul into the development of new communities through the smart use of data.
Jessica Christiansen-Franks is the co-founder and CEO of Neighbourlytics, a data company that specialises in helping developers understand what makes communities genuinely tick.
From online restaurant reviews to event check-ins, the Neighbourlytics technology synthesises data from digital sources to see places through the eyes of local residents - helping citymakers understand, measure and monitor social wellbeing in the places they create and manage.
Jess co-founded Neighbourlytics in 2017, as digital transformation was starting to shape the future of citymaking and urban design and Neighbourlytics is now used by the majority of Australia’s leading property developers, asset managers, and urban planners to create better, connected neighbourhoods.
The ground-breaking technology was a multiple award winner at the Proptech Awards and has scaled rapidly, providing data and insights today for more than 2000 neighbourhoods across 12 countries.
BOOM! - Alex Houlston: Electrifying Australia's Residential Sector
Now have you heard about the push to electrify Australia’s residential sector? It’s a concerted campaign driven by the Australian Government to meet a target where 82 per cent of our energy is generated through renewable sources rather than coal and gas by 2030.
And to hit this target, the vast majority of Australia’s 12 million existing home owners need to switch their homes off fossil fuels and onto solar or wind power. But where on earth do you start? This is something that I’m personally looking at for my home and the options - and the adulting required - is exhausting.
But my next guest is changing all that. Alex Houlston is the CEO and cofounder of Boom - also known as BoomPower - is an Aussie climate-tech business that delivers building electrification needs all in one platform to simplify electrifying homes, help with decisions and get access to reliable suppliers, while veryifying emission impacts. It’s being used by the banking sector to help their customers plan upgrades to their homes.
Alex has had an extensive career in the renewable energy sector before starting Boom in 2018 - and I don’t think his timing could have been any better
Construction ID - Justin Williams: Wiseworking for the Construction Industry
Why does building a property cost so much? Well a lot of the reason is because of the lack of efficiency in the building industry, the manual systems and handoffs and updates managed through phone calls, email and onsite visits, gaps in the supply chain, the demands of governance which requires even more administrative work, and a lack of visibility across the entire process which culminates in defect correction at the end.
In fact, at least 13% of the cost of building is attributed to rework in some way, according to research by Deakin University.
But my guest in this episode is fixing all of that.
Justin Williams is the founder of ConstructionID by Wiseworking - a building process and document management platform that captures all of the information in a build - from design through to post-building management - in one system.
They were a winner in the Proptech Awards 2022 and a finalist again this year
HID - Steve Katanas: Ending the Office Lanyard
Now have you ever rushed into the office running late to realise once that you've left your security pass on the kitchen bench, or in a different handbag - and your day turns to custard because you need to be manually signed in?
Or dashed out to a client coffee, left your pass on your desk and spent half an hour after the meeting trying to find someone to let you through the security barriers while you get side-eyed by the front desk.
Is it just me who is completely hopeless when it comes to security passes? I don't think so.
Well my next guest is Steve Katanas, head of ANZ for physical access control from HID. HID offers identification as a service removing the need for lanyards and passes by putting your building identification and security passes into your phone using wallet technology. This offers significant productivity and security benefits while also supporting the easier automation of building access.
FallbackAi - Cameron Schroeder: No more chasing up leads
If you’re a real estate agent, you’re going to love this next podcast. My guest is Cameron Shroeder from a brand new proptech - started in just January this year - called FallbackAI.
Fallback AI solves that problem that nearly all agents experience - a dislike of cold calling. It is AI that clones your voice and sends a voice mail to your contacts so that instead of spending hours calling and having your call rejected, you can get on with your day and deal with incoming calls from people who want to talk to you and spend more time closing.
Cameron is an experienced entrepreneur with a solid background marketing and Fallback AI is now looking for beta client after being tested by over 300 agents. So here to tell us all about it, Cameron Shroeder, welcome to the Proptech Podcast.
ValAi - Allys Todd: Helping Australia Hit Climate Targets
We're all familiar with the idea of adding an extension or a pool to increase the value of our home. But what about your homes energy efficiency - or lack of it?
We are moving into a new era where the energy efficiency and carbon credentials of your home will soon play a significant role in how much your home will be worth.
And my next guest, Allys Todd is the co-founder and CEO of a Proptech helping homeowners - and property industry professionals - as this becomes reality.
Val.ai is a new startup whose AI is able to help valuers, financial institutions and insurance companies understand the climate risk inside their residential property portfolios with a complimentary product that provides the data and insights to home owners to understand what they need to do to make their home more energy efficient and the payback they can expect when they take action.
And with the large majority of Australia's existing residential housing stock rated only 2 stars out of an expected 7, upgrading our existing homes to make them more energy efficient and affordable to run is going to play a huge role in helping Australia hit our climate and carbon reduction targets.
PT Blink - Industrialising Construction: Murray Ellen and Andrew Giles
Buckle up people because in this episode of the Proptech Podcast we are doing a deep dive into the world of building and construction technology and its a doozy!
My guests are Murray Ellen and Andrew Giles from PT Blink and this is an extended episode because we got totally into a conversation about the problems that desperately need solving in construction and the role of technology to digitise manual work that has been done the same way for centuries.
PT Blink is a very exciting Proptech that is working to "industrialise" construction, using platform technology to manage the logistics and workflows of local building supply manufacturers anywhere to create custom designed flatpack multistorey buildings that can be assembled on site in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost.
Murray is a leading expert is post tension steel technology and has conceived, designed and built major projects around the world including Australia, China, Hong Kong, Dubai and the Philippines - one of which includes Sydney's Olympic stadium. As well as being the founder of PT Blink is a governor of the Sydney University Warren Centre of Advanced Engineering.
Andrew is director of marketing and communications at PT Blink and has had an extensive corporate career in communications roles working for companies including Canon and Edelman. He is also on the Commercial Advisory committee of the Proptech Association Australia and an enthusiastic advocate for the sector.
Evitat - Sonja Markovic: Making it easier to create efficient homes
My guest in this episode is Sonja Markovic from an exciting new proptech called Evitat that is making it easier to renovate and build homes using materials and services that are energy efficient and have strong green and health credentials.
Evitat were the winners of the Most Innovative Startup in the Environment Social and Sustainability in the 2023 Proptech Awards and it has a great story. Evitat was born from the pain that Sonja experienced trying to restore a Queenslander that has been damaged by a cyclone - an experience that she says was like studying for a PhD.
And with a new rating system on the cards to be introduced for established homes, it's an area that's going to experience exponential demand and growth.
The Proptech Panel: Leaning into the intersections
There are always plenty of legal documents required whenever you buy or sell a residential property! Conveyancing also involves multiple stakeholders, processes and tasks, which means that there are plenty of good opportunities in there for technology to help! On this month’s The Proptech Panel, we explore the intersections of proptech and legaltech, including the innovations in the market such as: digital ID checks virtual document signing automated contract preparation and review the safeguards around the large sums of money that are transferred on settlement.
The Proptech Panel: How Proptech Supports the Construction Industry
In this months panel, Proptech Association Vice President Jennifer Harrison was joined by: - Justin Williams from ConstructionID - Chris Polin from DLP Manager - Bart Crowther from PlanRadar The discuss revolved around"contech". Contech describes everything that is related to the building & construction phase of the real estate life cycle. This can include procurement, resourcing, project management, sub-contracting, site access and logistics, quality assurance, health & safety, defects management and more. ABOUT STONE & CHALK Stone & Chalk is Australia’s largest innovation community. Our mission is to transform Australia into a sustainable, technology driven economy by supporting emerging tech startups and scaleups, corporations, and government at every stage of their innovation journey. WHY SHOULD I BECOME A RESIDENT? As a resident of Stone & Chalk, you can access: State-of-the-art hubs in the heart of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide A vibrant community of likeminded founders A world-class network of investors, mentors, customers, and experts Expert advice and guidance with a tailored business growth strategy STAY UP TO DATE LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/stone-&-chalk/ Instagram – www.instagram.com/stoneandchalk/ Twitter - www.twitter.com/stoneandchalk/ Facebook - www.facebook.com/stoneandchalk Website - www.stoneandchalk.com.au/ Sign up to our newsletter - https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/form...
The Proptech Panel: Exploring CDR's Limitless Possibilities for the Real Estate Sector
The Consumer Data Right (CDR) started in open banking in 2020, then moved into open energy in 2022, and non-bank lending will be next. Currently, customers can choose to share their banking and energy data with accredited third party data recipients. Data sharing is governed by consent-driven rules and happens automatically and electronically via secure APIs. As June is CDR Month, The Proptech Panel featured four expert guests: Tim Poskitt, Envestnet | Yodlee Adam Vidal, Basiq Neil McVeigh, Greener, and Ross Sharman, Accurassi who explained how the real estate sector can benefit from CDR data sharing and answer questions such as: What data is available through CDR? How can proptechs access it? What use cases are supported? Can CDR accelerate the journey to net zero? Where is CDR heading in the future? ABOUT STONE & CHALK Stone & Chalk is Australia’s largest innovation community. Our mission is to transform Australia into a sustainable, technology driven economy by supporting emerging tech startups and scaleups, corporations, and government at every stage of their innovation journey. WHY SHOULD I BECOME A RESIDENT? As a resident of Stone & Chalk, you can access: State-of-the-art hubs in the heart of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide A vibrant community of likeminded founders A world-class network of investors, mentors, customers, and experts Expert advice and guidance with a tailored business growth strategy STAY UP TO DATE LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/stone-&-chalk/ Instagram – www.instagram.com/stoneandchalk/ Twitter - www.twitter.com/stoneandchalk/ Facebook - www.facebook.com/stoneandchalk Website - www.stoneandchalk.com.au/ Sign up to our newsletter - https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/form...
Sensor Global - Andrew Cox: Saving Lives with Proptech
I am very excited about my next guest, Andrew Cox, because he is from a brand new proptech just launched called SensorGlobal.
Sensor Global is doing groundbreaking work saving lives with next generation internet of things software designed specially for residential properties.
IoT are smart devices that are connected to cloud-based software. Sensor Global’s first product is a new automated smoke alarm system that will revolutionise how smoke alarms are monitored and managed in rental properties across the country because the fact that they are constantly connected means they no longer require annual physical inspections to remain compliant. And this will make life easier for both tenants and property managers. But they also have a raft of new devices planned for market.
Andrew has extensive experience in both the property, construction and proptech industry, having successfully exited Property Safe to Australia’s Home Trades Hub (a Joint Venture between IAG Insurance and RACV) in 2021. He’s a proptech entrepreneur who knows his product, knows its purpose and is very clear on his company’s vision and how he is going to achieve them.
The Proptech Awards - Jennifer Harrison: The Complete Rundown
My guest in this episode is Jennifer Harrison, a communications and PR expert with Reputation Edge and the vice president of the Proptech Association of Australia, where she was one of the first to put up her hand and get involved in the association.
Jennifer had an extensive career in the corporate banking sector and fintechs, is part of IdeaSpies which specialises in identifying emerging exciting technology, and is one of the powerhouses behind the Proptech Awards, working on the mammoth task of finding and coordinating the judging.
In this episode, we give an overview on the winners of the 2023 Proptech Awards and provide some tips and insights into why they won and how to create a winning entry for next years awards.
With 33 winners - this is a longer episode - but well worth the listen, so buckle up.
PropTrack - Shelley Horton: The Importance of Good Data
This week on the Proptech Podcast my guest is Shelley Horton, the executive manager of mortgage solutions at PropTrack, the property data arm of Realestate.com.au
Shelley has a long track record in the property industry, starting her career as a property valuer holding various roles at Genworth, and then becoming a buyers agent and consultant to large corporates including Macquarie and CoreLogic. So she’s experienced the property valuation and the risk analysis of the industry from nearly every angle.
Now at REA, she’s responsible for PropTrack expanding the valuation, risk and mortgage products being created from their data with a keen eye to the kinds of insights that property buyers and sellers want to know.
And in this interview we discuss the importance of good quality data in helping consumers make confident decisions and how the property data industry is changing.
National Property Group - Joe Rossi: The 60 Year Old Start Up
My guest in this episode is Joe Rossi, the national sales and go-to-market director of the property data provider National Property Group.
National Property Group connects Australian property professionals with ready-to-use, property data, marketing and sales platforms to power strategic business growth. They have a long heritage in the property industry - for those with long memories, they were born out of EAC and Red Square which makes them - as they state - a 60 year old startup.
But they launched as National Property Group in 2020 and now boast 12 million property records, 107 million property images and 250 m records on sales and lease listings - and an API that is open and affordable for proptechs to experiment with.
Procuracon - Andy McColgan: The Pain Points of Construction
In this episode we meet Andy McColgan, CEO and director of construction Proptech Procuracon.
Andy's 15 years combined experience as a site inspector at Ogilvie Construction and project manager and project director at APP Construction gave him first hand experience into the pain and inefficiencies around construction tendering processes. And Procuracon is working to remove the pain points - and even inherent bias - that exists in traditional ways of trying to find the right suppliers and contractors.
The Perth based startup came through the Curtain University accelerator program and was recently the winner of the Proptech HubWA Emerging Technology of the Year
Renti - Will Alexander: Renting Made Enjoyable
My guest is this episode is Will Alexander, CEO of New Zealand Proptech Renti, which is making it easier for property managers to provide a better service to tenants, and help them to apply for rental properties more easily and move in more quickly.
Will has had an extensive career in real estate. Before joining Renti, he was the general manager of Property Brokers, spent a total of seven years at Barfoot & Thompson, represented the property management sector to the REINZ and worked at Auckland Property Management.
Renti and MoovMe are his second tech startup after he spent two years as founder of MoreMinutes, a proptech designed to help property managers get more out of their day.
Kolmeo - Scott Bateman: Assembling the Parachute
My guest in this episode is Scott Bateman, CEO of property management proptech Kolmeo. Scott’s career started in banking, working for BT Financial Group and Bank of Melbourne, before he was convinced to join Little Real Estate, founded by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Paul Little who was managing director of Toll Holdings from 1985 until his retirement in 2011.
In this interview, Scott tells us the rather fabulous story of how the legacy technology stack of AgentPlus both pivoted and accelerated to become Kolmeo during the Covid pandemic and lockdowns - a transformation that Scott describes as jumping out of a plane and assembling the parachute. But it took Kolmeo from concept to running some of the largest rent rolls in the country and it’s a cracking interview.
Propti - Jake Isman: Simple, Verified, and Faster
My guest in this episode is Jake Isman, founder of new proptech startup Propti - that’s spelt P.R.O.P.T.I
Propti is a one stop shop for the plethora of property reports needed across a property transaction - whether that’s building and pest, strata management, property valuations and even more technical reports like engineering and soil analysis - creating a simple, verified and faster way to identify the right information provider and obtain the right report quickly and affordably.
In this conversation, we discuss the hidden labour of reports - the thousands of hours and emails that are undertaken weekly by administrators across the property ecosystem to find specialists who can provide the right report in the right area, brief in the request and manage its delivery.
Just like banks have a valuation panel of verified experts that they go to to provide valuations, Propti takes this concept and expands it across the entire report ecosystem that saves agents, conveyancers, mortgage brokers and buyers time and a lot of stress.
ProptechBNE - Isaac Coonan: 2023 Australian Proptech Economic Impact Report
My guest in this episode is the fabulous Isaac Coonan, founder and head of Proptech BNE or Proptech Brisbane, which specialises in promoting the value of Proptech to south east Queensland.
Isaac and his team have recently released the Australian Proptech Economic Impact Report - a landmark document that is now in its third year that captures the data about the Proptech ecosystem across Australia and analyses the contribution it makes to the economy.
The Proptech Association of Australia - and I personally - have been very proud to collaborate with ProptechBNE on this great initiative and this year, we delivered the first Proptech Map as part of the report.
And so this episode is a bit different to a typical podcast as Isaac and I - who as Isaac rightly points out could talk under wet concrete - discuss the key findings of the report and the trends and current behaviours of the Australian Proptech ecosystem.
The Proptech Panel: Leaning Into The Intersections
There are always plenty of legal documents required whenever you buy or sell a residential property! Conveyancing also involves multiple stakeholders, processes and tasks, which means that there are plenty of good opportunities in there for technology to help! On this month’s The Proptech Panel, we explore the intersections of proptech and legaltech, including the innovations in the market such as: digital ID checks virtual document signing automated contract preparation and review the safeguards around the large sums of money that are transferred on settlement.
The Proptech Panel: How to Balance Innovation vs Adoption: Standout or Fit in?
In this months edition of The Proptech Panel Association Australia Vice President Jennifer Harrison hosted a conversation with three of our winners from the Proptech Awards 2022: Robert Coorey, Co-Founder at Archistar.ai Trish Mackie-Smith, Co-Founder at inndox Mickael Roger, Co-Founder at PropHero They shared their founder's journey stories and, in particular, the challenges that can arise when you go out to a traditional market with something that is innovative and tech-enabled. ABOUT STONE & CHALK Stone & Chalk is Australia’s largest innovation community. Our mission is to transform Australia into a sustainable, technology driven economy by supporting emerging tech startups and scaleups, corporations, and government at every stage of their innovation journey. WHY SHOULD I BECOME A RESIDENT? As a resident of Stone & Chalk, you can access: State-of-the-art hubs in the heart of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide A vibrant community of likeminded founders A world-class network of investors, mentors, customers, and experts Expert advice and guidance with a tailored business growth strategy STAY UP TO DATE LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/stone-&-chalk/ Instagram – www.instagram.com/stoneandchalk/ Twitter - www.twitter.com/stoneandchalk/ Facebook - www.facebook.com/stoneandchalk Website - www.stoneandchalk.com.au/
REACH - Peter Schravemade: Proptechs Well Worth Watching
My guest in this episode is the irrepressible Peter Schravemade, the head of Australia’s premier proptech accelerator, the REACH Australia program, director of the Proptech Association Australia and someone I am very proud to call a dear friend.
Pete took up the mantle of the Reach program this year after many years at BoxBrownie, one of the posterboys for scaling Australian proptech where he grew the business into 129 countries through his seemingly constant attendance at industry events around the world and well earned reputation for being great company and quick to shout a beer.
Now a warning – Pete and I can talk under wet concrete and we do in this episode - as Pete talks through the 2023 Reach Cohort and we go down a few rabbitholes. It’s slightly longer than normal, but worth the listen as we cover a veritable whose who of exciting proptechs well worth watching.
Milk Chocolate - Richie Ragel & Michael Cleary: "Whole of Property Ownership"
My guests in this episode are Richie Ragel and Michael Cleary, long time friends with marketing backgrounds who turned their side hustle of property investing into a buyers agency that specialised in helping the expat market buy and sell property in Australia.
The pair have since expanded the business into a full service model that supports all elements of researching, selecting, owning, managing and even renovating property for not just expats, but anyone. And they are in the process of building out a tech stack to ensure all elements of the business are tech enabled.
And where did their crazy name come from? Well, you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out!
The PropTech Panel: When America Sneezes
When America sneezes, will Australia catch a cold? What changes will major layoffs and restructures by US tech giants, the "right sizing" of VC interest and global economic pace changes have on Australian proptech? Hosted by Founder & CEO of Instarent, AJ Chand, in conversation with: Ari Ginsburg, Startup Advisor, Earnnest Peter Schravemade, Managing Partner, REACH Marisa Warren, Co-Founder & General Partner, ALIAVIA Ventures
StaffLink - Christina Lennie: The intersection of outsourcing, processes and Proptech.
My guest in this episode is Christina Lennie, chief customer officer of StaffLink.
StaffLink began as a property management Proptech founded by Corey Davis, Joel Davis and Bryn Humble but now has expanded to remove pain across all areas where processes and tech cross over including sales and even Strata.
It was born out of the real life experiences - and pain - of running a real estate office and all its solutions are still tested at Image Property.
This is a fabulous conversation with Christina as we look at the intersection of outsourcing, processes and Proptech.
SaleFish - Tony Tadros: Joining the Dots
My guest in this episode is Tony Tadros the managing partner of SaleFish which is a self described Transaction Service Engine that joins the dots between a CRM and Pexa in the house and land companies.
Tony had a career in real estate selling land packages before embarking on a tech solution to solve some of the pain points he regularly experienced. And in one of those weird coincidences, it was during this time he discovered that a Canadian firm was on a similar track and so the two collaborated and he is now responsible for launching SaleFish in Australia.
Sales and land in Australia is an $8.2 billion dollar industry and it combines all the pain of buying a property with the double whammy of then dealing with the stress of building. So. Much. Fun!! So it's no surprise that this sector is seeing a surge of innovation.
Capstone Recuitment - Glenn Marland: All About People
My guest in this episode is Glenn Marland, the Property director at Capstone Recruitment, one of Australia’s most established recruitment firms across the property and proptech space.
Getting your people right is absolutely essential in proptech and indeed in any business. You need to attract a team that has both the skills and the temperament to grow with you and help take your company to the next level. So in this episode Glenn and I discuss the current employment landscape, the common mistakes that proptechs make when hiring staff and how to avoid them.
Plus the recruitment industry was one of the first to be disrupted by technology with job websites among some of the first platforms to monetise digital through the posting of job ads. And yet we still have recruitment firms who specialise in delivering service and expert knowledge – so there’s some great insights for the future of real estate in this episode as well.
Ezypay - James Foster: The Future of Payments
In this episode of the Proptech Podcast, get ready for a deep dive into the world of payments. My guest in this episode is James Foster, CEO of Ezypay - a man whose depth of knowledge of the history - and future - of the Australian payment system is matched only by his passion.
In this podcast, James explains the legacy of current payment systems, the pain they cause for property renters and buyers - not to mention paying all those bills that come with living in a property - and the new world of PayTo which is about to revolutionise how we all make regular payments. We also look at the work Ezypay is doing with partnerships in the proptech space to speed up adoption.
PropTech Panel: Proptech in 2023 - What Lies Ahead?
PropTech Panel: Proptech in 2023 - What Lies Ahead?
Trendspek - Derek Feebrey: Precision Reality
My guest in this episode is Derek Feebrey, the CEO and cofounder of Trendspek, an asset intelligence software for the commercial property sector.
Derek and his co-founders Fiona Church and Mitchell Deam, are all former commercial airline pilots - previously with Qantas - who fell into proptech by establishing one of Australia’s first businesses to own and operate drones, back in the day when you actually needed to be a commercial pilot to operate one.
They realised the potential of drone footage to capture property assets - especially for assets that were difficult or dangerous to send an inspector up a rope, and for large scale infrastructure projects.
But over the past six years the business has now morphed into what they call ‘precision asset intelligence’ which is a complete asset identification, tracking and management solution, with drone footage being just one small part of what they do.
DLP - Chris Polin: Smarter Defects Management
My guest in this episode is Chris Polin, founder of the very new Australian construction tech startup, DLP Manager.
DLP stands for Defect Liability Period and it refers to the legal period that builders must repair any defects on a new build which can be anywhere up to around 10 years.
Chris himself has 16 years experience in the building industry including time at Lendlease and the NSW Government and has personal first hand knowledge of the work, stress and reputational damage that defects can cause a building company - and the emotional trauma they create for new owners.
DLP Manager was launched in April 2022 after Chris did work for a client that involved a defect list on an Exce sheet that was over 900 rows long. Eeek!
MRI - David Bowie: MRI acquires Proptech Group
We've got a really special episode for you today.
Some of the most popular episodes of the Proptech Podcast this year have been interviews with Simon Baker, founder of The Proptech Group and one of the founding fathers of Australian proptech, and in a later episode Joe Hanna, CEO on running an ASX listed scaling Proptech.
Completely separately, David Bowie, CEO of MRI Software also notched up a place in the top 10 discussing his vision to make a 30 year old Proptech future forward.
So when MRI Software announced last month that they proposed to buy the Proptech Group we figured it was very big news for listeners.
The deal - still to be approved by regulators - is at 60c a share giving Proptech Group a value of $93.4 million and all being well, it should go through in February 2023.
It’s been part of a bigger acquisition strategy that MRI Software have been executing over the past 12 months under David, so we wanted to get him back on the show and hear more about it because it will significantly impact the shape of the Australian proptech landscape.
Box Brownie - Brad Filliponi: SnapSnapSnap
Started by professional real estate photographer Brad and his friend, technical genius Mel Myers, BoxBrownie.com is a 24/7 photo editing company providing a range of services for real estate marketing, offering a no-subscription, pay-as-you-go service, with edits returned within 24 hours. They have a global team of more than 2000 editors and a team of 200, with home base being in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.
BoxBrownie have simplified so many elements of real estate photography and marketing, including creating floorplans, virtual staging and virtual tours, and in early 2023 they will raising the bar again with the launch of their new iPhone app, SnapSnapSnap which allows agents to take professional quality DSLR photos using just their mobile phone.
PlanRadar - Bart Crowther: Ditching Disorganisation
My guest in this episode is Bart Crowther, regional lead at PlanRadar an Austrian proptech that specialises in digitising workflow and communication sharing in the construction industry.
Bart has an impressive 25 year history and track record in the tech and workflow industries holding roles at businesses including Intelledox, Transformed, Commnia and Aconex.
He joined PlanRadar in March 2022 as part of the company’s expansion into Australia where construction is a $360b industry annually that is still overwhelming run with notepads, checklists, excel sheets and emails. And as Bart explains in this interview, with defects costing $6b a year in the construction industry, there’s a lot of work to do.
Vertex - Martin Boyd: Is Your Proptech Cyber Secure?
We have a VERY timely topic up for discussion this week. My guest in this episode is Martin Boyd, Director of Cyber Security at Vertex Cyber Security.
Vertex Cyber Security specialises in end-to-end Cyber Security including cyber training, penetration testing, cyber audits, log monitoring and consultation. Prior to joining Vertex, Martin was a Cyber Security Lecturer at the Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub and prior to that, worked in Cyber Security for eight years at Commbank.
And you’d have to be living under a rock at the moment not to realise that Cyber Security is one of THE most important issues in technology in Australia with high profile companies like Optus and Medibank being hacked and experiencing significant data breaches. And just days after this interview was recorded, a Harcourts office in Melbourne experienced an incident that was widely reported.
Martin hosted an excellent roundtable at the recent Proptech Forum in Sydney and provided some somewhat terrifying insights into how hackers work and why real estate agencies are increasingly becoming a target. In this interview, we discuss the common mistakes made by both agencies and proptechs and what we all need to be doing to protect our personal information.
PropHero - Pablo Gil Brusola
My guest in this episode is the charming and inspirational Pablo Gil Brusola, CEO and cofounder of Prophero. Pablo is an entrepreneur with a track record for making things happen. His last startup, GrowPro was an educational travel concept that grew from 0-12M$ and more than 200 Team Members across 15 countries as a fully bootstrapped entity across nine years and prior to that he was an operations consultant at PwC. His new venture is Prophero is revolutionising property investing and despite being only a year old, is already launched across Australia and Pablo’s native Spain and was the winner of the Proptech Awards for Best Startup.
Synfini – ASX - Paul Stonham: Whitelabeled Blockchain
My guest in this episode is Paul Stonham, the general manager of DLT Solutions at the ASX or Australian Stock Exchange.
DLT stands for Distributed Ledger Technology which is effectively blockchain technology. The ASX have been working hard for years to develop the technology to replace the CHESS system that manages shareholder information. And as part of their work in this area, they have created a ‘white label’ template for blockchain known as Synfini that is now available via an API so it can be applied to other uses.
And one of the first test cases, as Paul explains in this interview, has been in the property space by the NSW Building Services Commissioner as a way of tracking and tracing all of the ‘ingredients’ of multi storey residential towers to create a new rating system that will give new apartment buyers confidence about the quality of the build. And this is of course, an important development after the disasters of incidents like the Opal Towers in Sydney.
Stone and Chalk - Michael Bromley: Accelerating Proptech
My guest in this episode is Michael Bromley, the CEO of fintech and proptech accelerator Stone & Chalk.
Michael took on the CEO role of Stone & Chalk back in October last year after nine months at AustCyber before the merger and he has an extensive and impressive background as a senior executive and board advisor in the digital transformation space having held roles at RightPoint, Bank of Queensland, IAG Digital Labs, NBN Australia, Telstra, and even going right back to AOL.
Stone & Chalk was founded as a not for profit in Sydney in 2015 to help fintech startups commercialise and grow. From 40 startups in 2015, it now has around 200 startups in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide covering all areas of emerging technology including proptech. Currently around 30 proptechs call Stone & Chalk home and with demand so strong, they have just launched a Scale Up hub at the new Tech Central near Centra Station in Sydney.
In this conversation, Michael and I explore what proptech can learn from the growth curve of fintech, the innovation landscape in Australia and the value of accelerator programs, where the work needs to be done and the technology coming down the pipe that is going to rock our world even more than it has been already.
OwnHome - Tim Harley: Helping renters become home owners
Housing affordability and home ownership is one of the hottest topics going right now and my guest in this episode is Tim Harley, co-founder and CEO of OwnHome.com which is helping renters get into the market eight times faster thanks to their innovative rent-to-buy model.
Tim has a background in finance and fintech, having worked with overseas payment and currency exchange software, Wise, time in private investing, Macquarie and at Herbert Smith Freehills.
OwnHome.com were the winner of the Proptech for Good Award at the 2022 Proptech Awards hosted by the Proptech Association of Australia and in this interview, we explore the very meaty issue of housing affordability, and the challenges faced by renters in trying to save for a deposit, which currently takes a typical couple 10 years longer than previous generations.
PropTech Panel: DesignTech - future-proofing for surveyors and architects
The Proptech Panel: DesignTech - future-proofing for surveyors and architects
Architectural design technology is a fantastic use case for proptech because it allows the humans to spend more time on relationships as well as the creative and aesthetic aspects of place-making.
And they have some of the coolest tech!
In this month’s The Proptech Panel, we’re talking geo-mapping, LiDAR data, drones, 3D laser scanning, point clouds and digital twins as well as feasibility, massing and compliance!
Join Proptech Association Australia Vice President Jennifer Harrison in conversation with our expert guests:
Simon Cookes, Founder & CEO, LARKI
Mohsen Kalantari, Co-Founder, Faramoon
Anycie Barakat, Head of Generative Design, Archistar
Houzz - Tony Been: Fixing How We Renovate
Have you ever renovated a property? How did that go for you? If it was anything like some of the experiences I’ve had in the past, it involved a LOT of stress, running around trying to coordinate tradies, interpreting all sorts of unexpected things in contracts, multiple incidents of frayed tempers with your partner, an occasional divorce threat and an end result that was, yeah, okay I guess.
As we go down the disruption path in property, the one thing that I believe is more stressful than buying, selling or renting a home is actually building or renovating one.
So I’m very excited that my next guest is Tony Been, managing director at Houzz Australia & New Zealand.
Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything
they need to improve their homes from start to finish.
On Houzz, people can find design inspiration, research and hire home professionals to complete their projects. While for home professionals, Houzz Pro provides an all-in-one software solution that empowers industry pros to promote their expertise, win clients and manage their projects efficiently and profitably.
The Houzz community is made up of millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals around the world and Houzz is available on the web and as a
top-rated mobile app.
And as someone who has renovated before and after Houzz, I can personally attest to how much Houzz helps homeowners make renovating a lot easier.
Houzz was also the winner of the Most Innovative Proptech in the Efficiency and Optimisation category for Houzz Pro at the Proptech Awards hosted by the Proptech Association Australia, and it also took home the Established Supplier Proptech of the Year.
Diakrit - Simon Myers: Interactive Imagery Experiences
My guest in this episode is Simon Myers, the head of sales at global property visualisation proptech, Diakrit.
Swedish-born, Diakrit globally has been a leader in property photography for 20 years, operating in 10 global markets, across more than 2000 real estate brands. Just last year, they marketed more than 200,000 homes with their solutions.
Diakrit came to Australia in 2016, originally on the back of News Corp as a major shareholder. But Diakrit founders Dick Karlsson, Martin Fritze and Pontus Lindholm bought back the company from News in 2018 and it is now independent.
Simon joined the Diakrit team at its inception in Australia having spent time previously in sales roles at Urban Angles, 4U Media, the REA Group and prior to that Victorian real estate powerhouse, Jellis Craig.
Diakrit were winners in the recent Proptech Awards held by the Proptech Association Australia in the hotly contested Sales & Marketing category for Established Suppliers with judges loving it’s innovative interactive tools for visual property marketing.
My Greener Planet - Greg Story: Dividends and Carbon Credits
My guest in this episode is Greg Story, founder and CEO of sustainability proptech My Greener Planet.
Greg has 35 years experience in the energy sector, most recently running solar and wind farms and prior to that specialised in energy infrastructure mergers, acquisitions and financing running infrastructure projects of $5b plus.
My Greener Planet is a digital platform that allows businesses and consumers to buy fractional ownership in functioning renewable energy farms, accessing both shareholder dividends and carbon credits.
MyGreener Planet was a winner in the 2022 Proptech Awards in the Smart City category as a startup.
Facilio - Prabhu Ramachandran: Entire portfolio management
My guest in this episode is Prabhu Ramachandran, the CEO and founder of Facilio, a New York based proptech that started operating in Australia during the pandemic after repeated client requests.
Facilio is an all-in-one app suite for commercial property that provides a whole of portfolio approach and allows facilities teams to achieve efficiency between teams, transparency in operations and predictive sustainability performance.
Before founding Facilio in 2017, Prabhu had a successful career at the IT services and software business Zoho, holding the role of Director of WebNMS which was the IOT and telecom division, for nearly 17 years. There he led the strategy, innovation, product management, marketing and business development of enterprise-scale software solutions that hundreds of large organizations rely on for their connected services to this day.
And prior to that he was a product manager at Zoho for eight years. So combined, those two things put him in an excellent position to be able to understand a market and develop a software solution.
In this interview, Prabhu explains why Facilio - being based in New York and Chennai - decided to come to Australia and shares some of Facilio’s experiences with the decision making process of Australian property companies. I know you’re going to find it fascinating.
Re-Leased - Tom Wallace: Global from day one
My guest in this episode is Tom Wallace, the founder and CEO of Re-Leased Property Software. Founded in 2012 and based out of New Zealand, Re-Leased helps thousands of owners and property managers across the world run their commercial property business in the cloud.
An aspiring entrepreneur, Tom set up ReLeased straight out of university after seeing first hand the challenges that his father’s real estate business had managing its commercial properties. He was mentored by Rod Drury, founder of Xero who as it turns out also lives near Tom and who he cornered in a local coffee shop to get his advice.
Re-Leased was the winner of Xero's emerging add on of the year 2014, as well as finalist for add of on of the year for Australia and UK in 2017. And Tom was the winner of the Rising Star Category for New Zealand in the Talent Unleashed competition for 2014.
As Tom explains in this interview, ReLeased has been built for global scale and now has five global offices, and is continuing to expand throughout the world.