Fifth Wall sets sights on clean infrastructure

The VC firm completed the first close of Fund II, which has a target size of €100m to invest in real estate innovation.

The world’s largest international real estate event will debut a 4,300 sq ft area dedicated to practical methods for decarbonising the sector when it returns to Cannes on 14-17 March 2023.

The developer has dropped plans to take a proptech company public via a blank cheque company, citing what it believed to be unsustainable startup valuations.

Taking a cautious approach to investment, VCs invested $19.8bn in real estate innovation globally this year, down from a record-setting $32bn in 2021.

One year ago, the proptech market eagerly awaited another 12 months of high investment and adoption. Now, facing economic jitters and tightening purse strings, the sector is coming to terms with a gloomier outlook – alongside continued optimism.

A little over half a year since launching its APAC business in Singapore, the digital connectivity ratings business has opened a second regional office in Hong Kong.

As funding for proptech startups slows to a trickle, ideas that will help the built environment transition to green energy still entice otherwise wary investors.

Pursue simple ideas that have a tangible and immediate impact on users rather than think about “big grand ideas”, speakers argued on the first day of Propel by MIPIM NYC.

The business of using algorithms to quickly buy and sell homes has suffered another setback as volatility in US house prices exposed one of the sector’s biggest players to substantial losses.