Fund Manager Raises Stake in Proptech Sector

Sydney-based property fund manager EG is upping the investment stakes in the burgeoning proptech sector with plans to grow the portfolio of its technology incubator by a further $100 million. 

It is also moving to expand into the fintech space as a key strategy in the growth of its EGX platform over the next two years. 

“We have already received incredible interest from third-party investors, in particular as some of our portfolio investment companies are on track to becoming global proptech players,” EGX executive director Sangeeta Venkatesan said. 

“The potential for returns in these high-growth market segments is high, and our role at EGX is to multiply the impact of investors’ return on investment.”

EGX was initiated last year and already holds a $100-million investment portfolio.

Its decision to double down comes after explosive growth in the proptech sector over the past couple of years. In March alone, mergers and acquisition activity in the industry totalled $1.1 billion globally.

The platform currently supports three proptech start-ups specialising in the growth areas of digital twins, data analytics and intelligence and sustainability technology. 

Through seed and follow-up series A funding it is focused on helping Australian and New Zealand-based tech start-ups scale up into high-performing global businesses. 

“The real estate and property industry is ripe for disruption,” EG chief executive Adam Geha said. 

“Technology is bringing amazing opportunities to the table and it is important that start-ups with ambitious teams and great ideas find the support they need to bring these ideas to life.”  

 “As a real estate funds manager, EG is constantly innovating to deliver the best, risk-adjusted returns for our investors and that clearly involves deployment of world-leading technology. 

“This is why we launched EGX. It’s here to fuel the future of proptech, and help solve tomorrow’s challenges for the entire industry.” 

Among the trio of start-ups already in EGX’s portfolio are digital twin technology specialists Willow and Reveal as well as data aggregating and mapping innovator FLNT. 

“The use of digital twins is growing because it provides unique insights that otherwise couldn’t be uncovered,” Reveal co-founder Sam Wiffen said. 

“We firmly believe that applying this technology … has the potential to revolutionise many industry areas from property development to city infrastructure maintenance, and more.” 

PWC integrated infrastructure and real estate advisory partner Tony Massaro said the property industry was on the cusp of an era of  innovation as early adopters scale-up. 

“Proptech has now become a fast-growing segment of the real estate market, with new start-ups being created every week,” he said. 

“The challenge is to identify and support the technologies and business models that will realistically drive the industry forward.”