Proptech boom: Here are the British startups to keep an eye on

So, what exactly is proptech?

Short for property technology, proptech is a term that covers an technology designed for the real estate industry.

The property industry is huge: it covers residential and commercial spaces from development to sales and rentals. Startups have every part of the process covered, from funding new builds to managing existing tenants.

Airbnb is one example of a proptech startup hitting it big. By applying the sharing economy to holiday homes, Airbnb made it easy for anybody to run a bed and breakfast—and the company is now worth over $31 billion. A wealth of startups have popped up specifically for Airbnb hosts short on time, with Airsorted alone raising £10.3 million in venture capital since 2015.

Zoopla is another success story: it was founded in 2007 by Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain, both of LoveFilm. In 2017, the property listing site’s revenue was £244.5 million.

While we often equate proptech with residential property, a huge chunk of the market is represented by commercial spaces such as shops and offices. Shared workspace provider WeWork was valued at a whopping $47 billion in an investment round this year; it’s been a market leader since its inception in 2010. On the retail end, pop-up space provider Appear Here has raised $21.4 million since 2013, and boasts a customer base that includes Google, Apple, LVMH and Netflix.

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