The commercial real estate industry has come far in a short period of time in terms of its adoption of advanced technology. The availability of data from such firms as Real Capital Analytics, RealPage and CoStar is now ubiquitous and it is fueling applications that range from artificial intelligence to online marketplaces.

Crowdfunding has become a mainstream source of capital for real estate borrowers, thanks to such com­panies as Fundrise in Washington DC, PeerStreet in El Segundo, CA and RealtyMogul in Los Angeles. We as an industry also have our own old-school tech pioneers such as Ten-X and SMS assist, both of which have become unicorns of the venture capital realm.

In fact, it is safe to say that commercial real estate has shed its former reputation as a laggard in tech adoption. As the following pages show, there are a multitude of tech firms that are making inroads in this space and they wouldn't be here if the demand for their applications and services didn't exist. These applica­tions range from real estate-specific platforms for valuation and managing deal flow to technology that sup­ports online brokerages and transaction management. Other products offer industry-specific CRM platforms and social networks for buildings. New generations of online markets are springing up as well, focused on such areas as capital markets sources and pop-up store locations. One constant throughout these examples: data is being used in new and different ways than even a few years ago.

So yes, CRE has not only begun embracing industry tech, but it is doing so with wild abandon. One can see that in the startups that are looking beyond today's technology to develop applications that will be big tomorrow. These companies are leveraging such technologies as artificial intelligence and machine learning to make even better decisions about investment than is possible now.

ARIE BARENDRECHT

It's been five years since CEO Arie Barendrecht founded WiredScore, the international rating standard for buildings' internet connectivity. Since its launch, the company has certi­fied over 1,700 properties, encompassing 450 million square feet of office space in 160-plus markets globally. The firm has worked with some of CRE's biggest landlords and certifies such trophy assets as the Empire State Building in New York, the Shard in London and Chicago's Willis Tower.

The past 12 months have been a time of significant growth for Barendrecht and WiredScore, which grew its global team and added new members to its board. It also opened eight new cities—Chicago, Atlanta, Montreal, Glasgow, Birmingham (UK), Marseille and Germany—and saw a 45% increase in Wired-certified buildings. Additionally, it raised $9 million in Series A funding, allowing for further expansion into new markets, including Dallas and Los Angeles, new product and new service areas.

MICHAEL BECKERMAN

That one of the most active thought leaders in the burgeoning field of CRE tech has an extensive background in media and public relations is of little surprise. Michael Beckerman spent 25 years building Beckerman Public Relations into one of the largest firms of its kind specializing in commercial real estate. He entered the CRE tech arena with the 2012 launch of the News Funnel, a customized news platform. He soon fol­lowed that with the Content Funnel, a social media, blogging and marketing platform.

Today, CREtech is arguably the largest research, data and event platform in the field, with one of the largest followings of industry professionals. As for Beckerman, he is one of CRE tech's most popular bloggers and is a frequent speaker at industry events hosted by such groups as ICSC, the MIT Center tor Real Estate and NAIOP. Last year, CREtech and its CEO teamed with ALM Real Estate's RealShare Conference series (now rebranded as GlobeSt.Events) on a major tech component at its largest annual event, the RealShare Apartments Conference.

MICHAEL GREEBY

While the development industry has a rep for being behind the times in embracing technology, Michael Greeby has continually challenged that assumption. As part of that effort, he launched workshopMG LLC, a startup specifically formed to work with entre­preneurial clients to create software and deliver ser­vices that streamline the process of retail leasing and tenant space delivery.

Greeby launched workshopMG after spending two decades working for contractors, engineers, develop­ers and a real estate consultant. The CEO spearheaded the creation of a three-pronged digital workflow sys­tem—Status Plan, a retail leasing and tenant delivery web app; Digital Design Criteria Manual, a cloud-based information delivery platform focused on shop­ping centers; and the spark Merchant Information System, a specialty leasing platform and CRM. The digital platform allows brokers and developers to easily use video, slide shows, interactive maps and plans.

So far clients have responded well, evidenced by the many positive testimonials from users. Among workshopMG's users are North American Properties, Columbia Development and the Atlanta Braves, which used DDCM on the Battery, the retail compo­nent of their new stadium.

ZACARIAH ROSENBERG

A self-professed “geek at heart,” Zac Rosenberg noticed there were a lot of man­ual processes in place when it came to deal evaluation. To remedy this, he developed a code loop that would replicate those pro­cesses, but at a faster pace. The innovation netted Greystone around $150 million in additional loans within its first few months of use in 2015.

Rosenberg is director of Greystone Labs, a tech incubator aimed at creating solutions to ease the lending process for clients and ultimately help drive busi­ness to the New York City-based firm's originators. Leading the devel­opment of an analytics platform that serves up customized property data, his mission for the past four years has been to drive the innova­tions that will change multifamily lending. Leveraging AI and machine learning, Rosenberg helped Greystone Labs crack the code on how to combine instant property insights and direct access to financing to help property owners unlock value and maximize investments.

In short, Rosenberg's efforts through Greystone Labs are transform­ing the way commercial loans are done, so far feeding $2.5 billion in loans through the company's automated and proprietary loan process­ing system. In recognition of his work, he was honored with FHA's Creative Genius Award in 2016. He is also a subcommittee member of the Fannie Mae tech initiative.

AARON SEABAUGH

Under Aaron Seabaugh's leadership, Common Areas has taken steps to solve CRE's “silo problem” between companies that work together. The solution he came up with was a highly configurable and customizable oper­ations platform. The cloud-based platform connects the entire CRE value chain across a given deal's life cycle—from concept and feasibility to ultimate development, sale or demolition—via collaborative software that expedites the exchange of data, documents and workflow.

As CTO of the Tustin, CA-based company, Seabaugh oversees all aspects of Common Areas' tech platform, including product development, design and execution; strategic planning; vendor management; and hardware infrastructure. In short, he imple­ments the overarching vision of Common Areas: to create tools that make the role of property managers easier.

Since joining the Common Areas in 2016, Seabaugh has helped to grow annual revenue from $640 million to more than $2.4 billion. The 19-year tech industry veteran was also awarded a patent for a web-based visual development environment that enabled non-technical users to implement business processes.

GORDON SMITH

Gordon Smith's long and illustrious career includes of some of the most distinguished names in the tradi­tional CRE business, such as CBRE and Fortress Investment Group. He entered the proptech arena in 2014, when he helped launch Ten-X, an online CRE marketplace. Smith developed the company's go-to-mar­ket strategy and recruited its senior leadership team, which is still in place today. Over the next two years, Ten-X Commercial grew to more than 350 professionals, and generated in excess of $3 billion in sales volume in 2016. That success led to the firm's 2017 sale to a major private equity firm at a valuation that at the time represented the largest proptech exit to date.

Early last year, Smith leveraged his experience to launch biproxi, a technology platform designed specifically for middle-market real estate agents. Powered by data on 32 million US commercial properties, Biproxi provides a free commercial MLS and marketing platforms and tools for sales and leasing.

Since its launch, biproxi's MLS has grown to 60,000 listings with an aggregate value of over $70 billion. The company is also launching an incentive model that pays a percentage of reve­nue generated by users referred to biproxi. It's also planning the launch of its Live Offer platform, which allows agents to receive real-time competitive offers for their listings, as well as a new research and transaction tool.

DIANE VRKIC

Widely touted as one of the most innovative CEOs in proptech, Diane Vrkic is founder of Waypoint, a smart asset management solution that helps CRE professionals streamline workflows while improv­ing asset value through operational efficiencies. Founded in 2000, the platform provides market insights, financial analytics and workflow col­laboration that allows users to opti­mize building and team performance. It also aggregates data to provide portfolio insights and reporting tools that uncover previously hidden asset values.

Vrkic led Waypoint through a year of growth in 2018, bring­ing thousands of new buildings onto the platform and grow­ing total recurring revenue by 350%. The company now ana­lyzes more than $300 billion in assets under management, accounting for two billion-plus square feet of commercial space in some 13,000 properties.

Waypoint recently expanded into the New York City mar­ket, adding three employees to the 20 or so who work at its San Francisco headquarters. Vrkic hopes to double the size of her firm over the course of 2019.

ASHKAN ZANDIEH

Early this year, CRE entrepreneur Ashkán Zandieh became chief intelli­gence officer for CREtech, a platform connecting the technology and com­mercial real estate industries. He oversees market research, thought leadership and content efforts for the New York City-based firm. The new role was the result of the merger between CREtech and RE:Tech, the tech consulting and research agency Zandieh founded in 2013. He spent the past five years growing RE:Tech into a leading research and proptech advocacy organi­zation for the worldwide commercial real estate tech community.

Zandieh is also the founder of PropertyIDX.com (formerly the Falkon App), an investment sales marketplace that provides listings and market data on New York City properties. Brokers, agents and landlords alike can use the app's real-time data to generate leads, increase property visibility and boost deal flow.

The “serial entrepreneur” is widely acclaimed as a thought leader and expert on technology's impact on real estate, he is a frequent source for industry and broader business publications. The TEDx speaker also hosted the world's first real estate tech demo day in 2012, and then went on to host a real estate tech “hackathon” in 2013.

An accomplished broker in his own right, Zandieh previously worked for ABS Partners. There, he focused solely on advising tech companies, startups and co-working spaces.

APTO

Angela Tucci

A customer relationship and deal management software for commercial real estate, Apto was built by and for brokers and provides a web-based solution for managing customer relationships, properties, deals, back-office and listings. With the ubiquitous Salesforce.com platform serving as its foundation, Apto allows users to man­age the lifecycle of a deal on the same interface. Features include project management, automated tasks, appointment setting, renewal management, collaboration, back-office, and forecasting.

Founder Tanner McGraw a seasoned CRE executive with a decade of brokerage experience, became frus­trated with the lack of technology available in his industry and decided to do something about it. As a result, he created his own product during the Great Recession, earned VC funding and Apto was born in 2012.

Since its launch, the Apto team has added new features such as an interactive deals board, mapping functionality, intelligent call lists, plus geo-targeted news. In a June 2018 survey, Apto customers reported that using Apto saves them an average of 6 hours a week and they've estimated a 610% return on invest­ment for their Apto purchase. The company's customers include multinational brokerages such as JLL, CBRE, NKF and Cushman & Wakefield in addition to thousands of independent brokers around the world.

Helmed today by CEO Angela Tucci, the Denver-based company just came off of another funding round that generated a total of $20.4 million. Named one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US by Inc. magazine, Apto has indeed progressed well beyond its humble beginnings as a CRM, but remains razor-focused on its original mission of building tools brokers love.

CBRE

Chandra Dhandapani

Forecasting that technology would increasingly drive fierce competition in the industry, CBRE adopted the mindset that IT must be an integral part of all aspects of the CRE business. As a result, the Los Angeles-based company recruited Chandra Dhandapani to serve as its chief digital and technology officer in 2016. The Fortune 500 firm brought Dhandapani on for her expertise in technology and the real estate capital markets. She spent 17 years as a senior execu­tive for Capital One Financial, where she and her team were responsible for executing technology that provided desktop, online and mobile capabilities to customers and staff.

Over the course of three years, Dhandapani and her team have blazed trails through was through the technology and digital realm, bringing together the industry's top digital talent to work on a variety of platforms and digital solutions. The team has been diligently delivering new products, such as CBRE 360. Since renamed Host, the employee and/or tenant experience platform fuses concierge services with tech. Another product is Floored, a 3D space visualization tool. CBRE has also made investments in proptech-focused companies through venture capital funds Fifth Wall Ventures and MetaProp.

Already the world's largest CRE services firm, CBRE is now also known as one of the most digitally fluent companies in the world. In fact, the amount it's has invested in technology in 2017 alone reportedly exceeds the total profits of many of its competitors.

COMPSTAK INC.