Stonly Baptiste
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Leading VCs discuss how COVID-19 is impacting real estate & proptech
Several months ago, we surveyed more than 20 leading real estate VCs to learn about what was exciting them most in the real estate tech sector and hear their opinions on proptech trends like co-working, flexible office space and remote office space.
Since we published our survey, COVID-19 has flipped the real estate sector on its head as more companies move toward mandatory remote work, retail businesses are forced to temporarily shut their doors and high-traffic properties thin out. Suddenly, the traditionally predictable world of real estate is more chaotic and unclear than ever.
What are the short and long-term impacts of pandemic-induced volatility? Does this open up opportunities for proptech startups or shutter them? What does this mean from an investing point of view? We asked several of the VCs that participated in our last survey to update us on how COVID-19 is impacting real estate startups, non-proptech companies in general and the broader real estate market overall:
- Christopher Yip, RET Ventures
- Nima Wedlake, Thomvest Ventures
- Merritt Hummer, Bain Capital Ventures
- Micah Kotch, Urban-X
- Andrew Ackerman, Dreamit Ventures
- Stonly Baptiste, Urban Us
Christopher Yip, RET Ventures
Despite its banner year in 2019, proptech will not be immune to the pressures venture-backed companies face in a market pullback, and we are preparing ourselves and our portfolio companies for a bumpy year.
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Beyond costs, what else can we do to make housing affordable?
Daniel Wu
Contributor
Contributor
Dan Wu is a privacy counsel and legal engineer at Immuta. He holds a JD from Harvard University, and is a PhD candidate for Social Policy and Sociology at The Harvard Kennedy School.
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This week on Extra Crunch, I am exploring innovations in inclusive housing, looking at how 200+ companies are creating more access and affordability. Yesterday, I focused on startups trying to lower the costs of housing, from property acquisition to management and operations.
Today, I want to focus on innovations that improve housing inclusion more generally, such as efforts to pair housing with transit, small business creation, and mental rehabilitation. These include social impact-focused interventions, interventions that increase income and mobility, and ecosystem-builders in housing innovation.
Nonprofits and social enterprises lead many of these innovations. Yet because these areas are perceived to be not as lucrative, fewer technologists and other professionals have entered them. New business models and technologies have the opportunity to scale many of these alternative institutions — and create tremendous social value. Social impact is increasingly important to millennials, with brands like Patagonia having created loyal fan bases through purpose-driven leadership.
While each of these sections could be their own market map, this overall market map serves as an initial guide to each of these spaces.
- Social impact innovations
- Landlord-tenant tools
- Innovations that increase income
- Innovations that increase transit accessibility and reduce parking
- Innovations that improve the ability to regulate housing
- Organizations that support the housing innovation ecosystem
- This is just the beginning
- I’m personally closely watching the following initiatives
- The limitations of technology
- Move fast and protect people
Social impact innovations
These innovations address:
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