Gustas Germanavičius, founder and CEO of InRento
The extent of real estate investment technology start-ups has reached a record market value of 9 billion Eur in the first half of 2021. Nevertheless, these changes are still gaining momentum, and it’s not too late to keep up with them.
The number of real estate technology start-ups has grown by 300% over the past decade, according to a new study by the international real estate services company JLL.
The entire real estate sector is getting on board with the latest IT and big data tracks, with the whole transformation being completed by proptech (property technology) companies. Through innovation, real estate technology companies simplify the processes of search, rental, purchase, sale, financing, and maintenance of buildings, as well as administration and urban planning.
Proptech is operating on a range of new technologies: “Augmented reality technology help selling real estate nowadays. It is also difficult to imagine a real estate business without financing; therefore, proptech has grown strongly with the fintech sector, - notes Gustas Germanavičius, CEO of InRento, “A large amount data is vital in accurately assessing property investment opportunities and any associated risks.”, he adds.
There are currently around 10,000 proptech companies in the world
JLL estimates that in the first half of 2021, investments in proptech have reached a new record of 9 billion Eur. The number of real estate start-ups globally has also increased over the last decade, from 2,000 to almost 8,000, attracting more than 86 billion Eur in investment capital during that time.
About half of all these funds (€ 40 billion) are invested in the United States. China is in second place (with $ 14 billion). Meanwhile, the most significant investments happen in the United Kingdom and Germany. According to Blackprint, there are a surprising number of 824 proptech companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland alone.
“The real estate market is one of the world’s largest industries and such huge businesses like AirBnb or Booking.com can also be classified as proptech. Also, many real estate financing businesses prefer to classify themselves as fintech because this concept is already well-established and the market itself is officially regulated,” says Gustas.
Proptech is also growing in Lithuania
In 2021 InRento has attracted EUR 660,000 in capital investment, and the start-up plans to increase its total value of capital invested to EUR 100 million Eur over the next five years. The company’s CEO notes: “The proptech market is young, but there is much potential in it.” According to him, InRento’s activities contribute to developing this relatively new sector in Lithuania, but there is still enough room for much more proptech companies in the future.
“You can find all the necessary means for the successful establishment of a proptech business in Lithuania. First of all, Lithuania is a small market, so we have to look abroad for development opportunities and work at the international level. In addition, we are not afraid of innovation, with the fintech market proving that start-ups can both quickly establish themselves in the market and grow rapidly. People here are extremely receptive to innovation, making Lithuania a great place to explore proptech’s true potential,” Gustas adds.
However, the successful development of proptech requires the same support given to fintech. “Everyone has to come together - politicians, businessmen, investors,” says Gustas. “We already have good examples - this area is being discovered by the private sector, with companies like Eika and Civinity starting to invest in proptech start-ups.”
Proptech companies have to test their ideas in real life, which is a long and challenging road to travel. “With leaders of the real estate sector getting involved in the game, the testing path is shortened, providing an opportunity to try new ideas with existing customers and create profitable products faster,” says Gustas.
Real estate rental projects are now available to many
Gustas notes that Lithuanians’ ability to quickly adapt to new trends and technologies is reflected in the choices of InRento’s investors.
“Lithuanians are interested in investment opportunities, so it is not surprising that they are also interested in our platform. We offer the opportunity to invest in various buy to let projects in Lithuania, as well as in Spain, starting with as little as 500 Eur”.
