Diane Vrkic
SILICON VALLEY, CA—Leaders in both technology and commercial real estate almost always fit a particular mold and Waypoint's founder and CEO, Diane Vrkic, is a pioneer for future females in both industries. Waypoint, launched in 2015, is a smart asset management platform for the commercial real estate industry. It had a record year in 2018 and it is on-track for another this year.
PropTech Corporate Titles
As Vrkic meets with various clients and partners, she has noticed a significant change in the people who are seated at the table for real estate investment firms. Chief Information Officers and Chief Technology Officers are increasingly becoming senior members of real estate companies.
“These folks are beginning to drive firm strategy by incorporating and using data and technology as a competitive advantage. This is a big change from what we have seen from real estate companies historically. Additionally, firms are implementing full-scale data management strategies, which are becoming integral to the growth and success of modern real estate companies,” Vrkic tells GlobeSt.com.
Venture Capital Fundraising
Venture capital fundraising has been historically difficult for women with 98% of VC funding going to males. In 2018, US female founders raised 2% of the $130 billion total in venture capital money invested over the year (via Pitchbook & All Raise), a decline even from 2017.
“Waypoint has been in an extraordinarily high-growth state in the past few years and works with 25% of the 40 largest real estate firms globally. We are a very healthy and successful fintech business by Silicon Valley standards. Yet I have found there is still a perception in venture capital that women-led companies are not the vehicle to get to IPO status,” Vrkic says. “It's exciting to be on the front lines of seeing this perception shift because when women are able to overcome those barriers and create industry-leading companies. This trajectory will only continue to the benefit of all.”
State of PropTech
Prop tech is still young and to-date has been underfunded compared to other industry sectors.
“We are now just beginning to see a change. Funding will continue to increase in our space with more needed innovation and change coming our way. It's an exciting time to be in prop tech to see the industry undergoing such change,” says Vrkic. “Commercial real estate is a $15 trillion dollar industry with an enormous amount of room for innovation. We are just beginning to scratch the surface.”
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