Why did I bet on a Proptech startup
There are many reasons to bet in the trendiest sector, Proptech, but from all of them, these are the 3 questions I made to myself before…
There are many reasons to bet in the trendiest sector, Proptech, but from all of them, these are the 3 questions I made to myself before starting on it a few years ago:
# 1 The prize
This is no secret: property is the world’s biggest asset class. Here is where the money is. Europe’s Real Estate sector hit its record in 2021 as it got and investment of €359 billion, 25 % more than in 2020…I like to aim high.
# 2 The challenge
Real Estate is a large market, but it is fragmented. It is geographically and bureaucratically diverse, which means every product or service will have to adapt to each region. That makes it very difficult for a single company to dominate (at least on its own). I had this very clear for my company, Tiko, and that’s why I have always seen the other players as collaborators rather than competitors. We have agreements with other Proptech and RE agent networks.
But make no mistake, this doesn’t mean that you will not succeed if you expand. Tiko is already operating in a couple of countries in Europe and soon we will be in more. The secret is to be aware of the cultural, legal and financial differences before you execute the expansion. If you have proven your service to be successful, it only depends on that: execute well while growing.
# 3 The contribution
The pandemic also showed us how technology can be a sinonim to survival for a company, and therefore, for their employees and the economics. Whereas some of the traditional realtors couldn’t manage any transaction during the lockdown, Tiko was sending offers to more owners that demanded our services as we were one of the few enterprises able to keep operating. As has often been said, the pandemic forced 10 years of innovation into just one. Why? Because citizens realized that technology is what makes it possible to adapt ourselves quicker… and companies finally gave it the importance it has.
Until the second half of the last decade, listing sites were the only service in the Real Estate that had applied technology. Since then, startups have appeared to digitize every part of it, from the collection of data to make better investment decisions, to the domotics, and of course, to innovate in one of the most stressful processes of a lifetime: selling or buying a house. This time consuming process had to be improved, and this is the very reason why I bet on Tiko where we created a company which gives sellers an offer in a few hours and close the transaction in 7 days.
Tiko is one of the most profitable tech companies in this space, operating now in 10 European cities and aiming to go up to 25 cities in 6 countries very soon. The profitability comes from the proprietary technology we are using to digitalize the entire process.
If you are thinking of investing or developing your own company, Proptech is probably the most profitable sector, but whichever you choose, ask yourself what is the prize that motivates you, what is the challenge you will defeat and what is the contribution to the society that you will make.