5 CRE Startups So Good You Can’t Ignore Them

In real estate investing, you have quiet investors that are moving stealthily in their target markets. They’re comprised of smart money who know their market inside and out, they know when to be active and when to sit on the sidelines, they stay out of the limelight and just close deals. In CREtech we see similar companies who have their heads down focusing on execution and dare I say profitability. This time instead of writing about the usual “CRE Startups You Have to Watch x 10,” I want to shed some light on pre Series A funded CRETech startups that are making something people want.

Who benefits?

Office landlords, brokers, and tenants.

Problem

Office space repositioning is capital and time intensive and asset valuation is drastically impacting the longer the vacancy period. Potentially 30-60 days of rent loss is accounted for tenant build out specifications.

Solution

Fast Office reduces vacancy by automating tenant fit tests and visualizing the exact deliverable for renovated space. By showing an exact rendering of space and budget, Fast Office can accelerate lease signing by one to two months, which drives yields in a meaningful way on a portfolio basis.

What makes them unique?

At 45, Bob is the youngest founder at Fast Office. That’s a good thing because they have extensive industry experience across all spectrums of the leasing workflow. From moving, design, and brokerage; Fast Office’s founders have been part of the office game for decades.

Who benefits?

Commercial office owners, property managers, building engineers, and tenants

Problem

After normal business hours, landlords are either unnecessarily running HVAC and lighting systems or not offering tenants after hours HVAC. In addition, landlords are not properly recovering energy related expenses from tenants. Both inefficiencies hit NOI and property valuation hard.

Solution

Genea offers cloud based management for administration of HVAC and lighting systems and real time tenant usage readings every 15 minutes for accurate billing.

What makes them unique?

Genea’s After Hours Control System (ACS Cloud) is patented and the only provider for generating automated electronic invoices based on building services data.

Who benefits?

 Lenders, investors, occupiers, and brokers.

 Problem

 There is a lack of transparency in leasing data. Data is disparate and there are few standards for combining private and public data sources. Things get even more complicated in Europe, where there are 16 major markets, each with their own data standards. As such, in depth analytics are unavailable for reporting trends and surfacing gaps in the market.

 Solution

DealX uses a point-based system to crowdsource leasing data from occupiers, brokers, and investors. Then they verify the private data with public sources and make the merged data available with a two way API. Investment banks are some of their early users using it to underwrite commercial loans and verify tenant credit.

What makes them unique?

 The founder Joseph Kelly founded Real Capital Analytics’ European division and saw first hand the lack of transparency in commercial lease data. He made it his mission to lower the bar to access reliable CRE data through API’s.

Who benefits?

Property investors and investment sales brokers.

Problem

Too often brokers and buyers are just throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing if it sticks, the result is stringing everyone along and a complete waste of time. The marketability of the asset becomes fatigued and real buyers get dissuaded from making strong bids.

Solution

Brevitas vets each prospective investment sale asset for institutional quality and proven representation, likewise buyers are scrutinized for access to funds. The platform is only comprised of highly qualified and sophisticated investors.

What makes them unique?

Brevitas is not looking to be everyone and their mother’s marketplace. Brevitas is a highly curated for market participants that show proven ability to close.

Who benefits?

Tenants and building management.

Problem

Building management can’t fix a problem if they don’t know about it and tenants can’t easily collaborate even if there are natural synergies between them.

Solution

Skyrise mobile app creates a direct link between building administration and tenants. This creates a more efficient and transparent environment for all building stakeholders. Now office buildings can deliver faster services for their tenants and promote themselves as concierge. In addition tenants become part of a private building social network where they can discuss collaborative initiatives.

What makes them unique?

Tenant collaboration is something you often get only in a co-working space. Skyrise gives the WeWork experience in an app so that tenants create partnerships which in turn means higher tenant satisfaction and longer leases.