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ASDCup – Global PropTech Startup Competition Launched

June 2, 2020by Steve NsonNews

ASDCup – Global PropTech Startup Competition Launched

June 2, 2020 by Steve Nson
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AnySizeDeals Week is excited to announce the launch of ASDCup – Where PropTech is Discovered, the early stage startup competition focused on identifying the most innovative companies in the PropTech space.

The competition officially starts accepting applications on June 3rd. The, semifinalists will be announced on July 15th and invited to pitch in Las Vegas as part of AnySizeDeals Week – The Festival of Real Estate Innovation.

The winner of the ASDCup will be announced live on stage at The Venetian Resort on September 11, 2020 in Las Vegas.

The focus of ASDCup is on discovering early stage companies that are creating unique solutions to transform the real estate industry.

The competition is FREE to apply and the winner receives the ASDCup, media exposure, bragging rights and access to targeted customers and clients.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying click here.


This Week in Real Estate Innovation


THE FUTURE OF WORK & WORKPLACE


Office Towers Are Still Going Up, but Who Will Fill Them? | NY Times

Developers around the country are grappling with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic as tenants cancel plans and workers fear returning to the office.

Before the pandemic shut down businesses, a robust economy had powered a building boom, sending office towers skyward in urban areas across the United States. The coronavirus outbreak, though, has scrambled plans and sent jitters through the real estate industry.

Skyscrapers scheduled to open this year will remake skylines in cities like Milwaukee, Nashville and Salt Lake City. Office vacancy rates, following a decade-long trend, had shrunk to 9.7 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2019, compared with 13 percent in the third quarter of 2010, according to Deloitte.

READ MORE…

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Co-Working Firms Respond to Industry Threat With Joint Safety Effort | WSJ

Pandemic undermines normal use of office space—and the co-working business model.

More than 20 of the world’s largest co-working firms, suffering a threat to their business from the pandemic, have agreed to coordinate in a way that would have been unheard of before the crisis.

The firms, which include Industrious and Convene in the U.S., JustCo of Singapore, and IWG PLC of the U.K., have formed a new umbrella organization known as the Workplace Operator Readiness Council.

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & ROBOTICS


Self-driving vehicle startup Argo AI completes $2.6B deal with Volkswagen, expands to Europe | TechCrunch

Volkswagen Group  finalized Tuesday its $2.6 billion investment into Argo AI, the Pittsburgh-based self-driving car startup that came out of stealth in 2017 with $1 billion in backing from Ford.

The deal turns Argo into a global company with two customers — VW and Ford — as well as operations in the U.S. and Europe, and provides an instant jump in its workforce. Autonomous Intelligent Driving (AID), the self-driving subsidiary that was launched in 2017 to develop autonomous vehicle technology for the VW Group, will be absorbed into Argo AI. AID’s Munich offices will become Argo’s European headquarters.

READ MORE…

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Locus Robotics raises $40 million to take its warehouse robots global | Venture Beat

Warehouse robotics startup Locus Robotics today announced it has raised $40 million, the bulk of which will be put toward accelerating R&D and the company’s expansion into new markets, including in the EU, where it opened a new headquarters. CEO Rich Faulk says Locus also intends to launch strategic reseller partnerships throughout 2020, following a year in which its number of customer deployments passed 50.

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STATE OF THE MARKET


Greystar Acquires Property Management Business of Alliance Residential, Including Future Business | REBUSINESS ONLINE

CHARLESTON, S.C. AND PHOENIX — Multifamily development and management firm Greystar Real Estate Partners has acquired the property management business of competitor Alliance Residential Co., the fourth-largest apartment management firm in the United States. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal reports that the all-cash deal totaled nearly $200 million.

Phoenix-based Alliance Residential will shift its focus from property management to development, construction and acquisition across the multifamily spectrum, including workforce housing and seniors housing. As part of the deal, Greystar will provide management services to Alliance Residential’s owned portfolio going forward, including both new developments and acquisitions.

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The Worst Case Scenario for Real Estate Post-COVID-19 | Commercial Observer

Residents fleeing expensive cities, retailers closing for good and companies ditching offices for remote work could be real estate’s worst case scenario.

If you thought it was bad now, well, it could get a lot worse.

Scores of apartments could be empty as thousands of renters face evictions after losing their jobs and as millennials in pricey spots like New York and San Francisco flee in search of cheaper pastures.

Major companies significantly downsize, or simply give back their space in favor of remote work. Few tenants will be able to step in to fill their space. A large driver of recent leasing activity, coworking firms, struggle to get new members and are forced to shutter.

READ MORE…

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PROPTECH NEWS


Vacasa gets $108M lifeline from Airbnb’s rescuer | The Real Deal

Vacasa, a wounded vacation rental unicorn, secured $108 million from a tech investor that helped bail out Airbnb in April.

Private equity firm Silver Lake led Vacasa’s Series D, with participation from existing investors Riverwood Capital and Level Equity, the companies said Tuesday. The round brings Vacasa’s total funding to $634.5 million.

Although Vacasa declined to disclose its valuation, Silver Lake also led the company’s $319 million Series C in October 2019 at a $1 billion valuation. Since then, however, Vacasa’s encountered turbulence. In February, co-founder and CEO Eric Breon stepped down. A few weeks after his departure, travel ground to a halt due to coronavirus.

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Estonian proptech Moderan snaps up €270K for its property management software | EU-Startups

Today Tallinn-based startup Moderan, a lease and commercial property management software, has snapped up €270K funding to expand its solutions to German-speaking markets, the Czech Republic, and Russia. A significant part of the investment was made by the real estate company Zenith Family Office, and their investors, as well as the Lemonade Stand fund.

Founded in 2015, Moderan aims to help commercial real estate owners go digital, and professionally manage their commercial real estate and tenant relations. Its lease lifecycle management and asset reporting tool helps owners optimise their organisation, save time and money, and increases the value of their holdings. So far the startup has both Baltic and German companies onside, such as Rotermann City, Lumi Capital, New Hanza Capital, Workland, YIT, among others, and is seeing the crisis as an opportunity for expansion.

READ MORE…

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