Innovation is in our DNA at Inman — that’s why we’re excited about August’s Technology and Innovation Month. We’ll kick it off by celebrating the companies and individuals pushing the industry forward with an expanded slate of Inman Innovator Awards at Inman Connect Las Vegas. Then, we’ll continue to celebrate the brightest minds in real estate all month long.
The National Association of Realtors’ business investment vehicle, Second Century Ventures, has announced its latest commercial cohort — or group of backed companies — to participate in the REACH Commercial program, Inman has learned.
The seven startups each promise to advance the way commercial brokerages service the industry, ranging from a green building resource solution to a pro-small business engine to help entrepreneurs own their real estate. To date, the chosen companies have more than $150 million of funding in their coffers. Second Century aims to bolster that money with business intelligence, education, leadership insights and go-to-market support.
This year’s REACH Commercial cohort, selected from our most competitive application pool yet, is set to significantly impact the industry,” said Bob Gillespie, managing partner of REACH Commercial, in the release. “They are addressing major challenges in our rapidly evolving field with innovative solutions in lowering carbon emissions, leveraging artificial intelligence and big data, and creating better fintech solutions to drive real estate transactions. We are excited about this outstanding group and their potential for substantial growth.”
The cohort is made up of a geospatial land research platform called Acres, the AI lead-generation and market experiences solution Infinityy, as well as Incentifind for green building incentives and Premise HQ, which “automates complex data management across commercial and industrial properties,” according to the release.
Cohort member Prophia is centered around AI to provide investors and operators access to ways to maximize building operations for investment purposes while Rensiar boasts being the “world’s first certified air quality ecosystem” and Withco can help turn community business leaders into property owners to ensure long-term profitability and expense control.
Dave Garland is the managing partner of Second Century Ventures and said in a statement that the most recent lineup is posted to “drive innovation.”
“By investing in and supporting these forward-thinking businesses, we ensure that commercial real estate professionals have access to the latest technologies, empowering them to enhance operations, make informed decisions and deliver value to their clients,” Garland said.
The REACH program sprang to life in 2013 and has since been a part of 200 companies looking to better the way real estate interacts with its stakeholders, from agents and property inspectors to first-time homebuyers and mortgage brokers. Some of its alumni include Notarize, Inman Innovator Award Winners Courted and Inspectify, Zillow-acquired Areyo, HighNote and Rental Beast, among others.
In its mid-year outlook on the commercial sector, JP Morgan said that multifamily, retail and industrial are powering the market and that prolonged high interest rates are undercutting liquidity strategies.
“While commercial real estate is eager for interest rate relief on loans, lower rates also mean lower returns on liquidity,” JP Morgan reported, as office occupancy rates remain dismal nationwide.
