Today, Brendan Wallace of Fifth Wall shared that back in 2016, the annual VC funding for "Real Estate Tech" was around $4 Billion. And now, today, the annual investment in "Proptech" is over $32 Billion, and growing rapidly. Studios and VCs focused on this industry continue to expand and bring to market the next generation of real estate software.

How did we get here so fast? How did we buy and sell real estate, connect with our homes (imaging saying "connect with your home" back in 2000...people would think you're crazy, or, maybe you needed an outlet adapter?), optimize our buildings and work spaces just a few decades ago?

Maybe, because we "live and work" in the world of proptech, we take this innovation for granted? There's an appreciation "from afar" when a robot does heart surgery, or a satellite 5,500 km above the earth provides 300mbps internet to your rural home.

When you eat, sleep, live and work in the technology, sometimes you might not notice the changes. Without thinking, consider how fast you'd handle the following challenges:

Looking for the best ski rental home in Big Sky? Vrbo or Airbnb - mindlessly you open the apps and get to searching.
Want to rent an office space for the week? Regus or WeWork and you're booked in minutes.
Bedroom too warm? Just adjust the thermostat from your phone with Google Nest Pro instantly.

Let's take a look at some of the innovations over the past 2 decades, and a sneak peek at some up-and-coming technologies you might be using in the future (if you're not already).

Home Security Cameras: In 2009, I wanted a 5-camera setup for our home in Austin, Texas. I price-shopped and the best deal I found was: install and hardware for $5,000! It included a massive monitor, and a hard drive (with an internal fan that made a buzzing noise day and night) and zero internet connectivity. Today? Any home owner or renter has access to Ring, Arlo Technologies, Inc., and Google Nest Pro cameras. Easy to install, operate and monitor from your phone, priced at a fraction of those old systems.
Remote office: Fun fact, in 2000 only 1.9% of Americans worked remotely. Today that number is over 26%. Companies like REGUS - IWG plc. Offices | Coworking | Meeting Rooms. WeWork and LiquidSpace offer flexible memberships and by-the-day rentals. They provide a great alternative to the noisy coffee shop or hotel lobby with spotty wifi.
Smart Home thermostats, audio, and lighting: Google Nest Pro, Sonos, Inc., and Nooie provide the ability to instantly alter the temp, music, and lighting to each and every room, from afar or from the comfort of your bed. For $18, you can buy WiFi-connected light bulbs at Home Depot. Feeling blue? Make the room blue.

Do some of you remember "The Clapper"? The allure was that you could turn off the lights without getting out of bed...great idea, and even better commercial, and in that same spirit these technologies continue to make changing the mood and feel of our home as easy as tapping a screen. [Fun fact number 2: You can still buy The Clapper. Really.]

Home/Apartment renting and purchasing: Realtor.com, Zillow, Apartments.com: Can you imagine a long-ago world when you'd peruse the classified ads in the newspaper (ink on your fingers, bending and folding newspaper) to look for a new apartment or home? Or worse (better?), you'd get in your car and drive around looking for homes for sale? What seems impossibly archaic today was "the way" to do it just a few decades ago.
Smart Appliances: Haier Appliances India Pvt Ltd, Electrolux Group, Samsung Electronics America, and LG Electronics all offer appliances with built-in connectivity, maintenance alerts, and even troubleshooting tips to avoid $200 repair diagnostics. The difference between a furnace running at optimal efficiency vs 60% can mean $hundreds in utility bills. In the near future, you'll know the performance and condition of every appliance in your home, at all times.

Those are just a few of the innovations we all have access to today. Many of us use all or nearly all of those types of the software discussed above.

And as for the future of Proptech? Here's a small list of the many, many innovations available now, or in the near future.

ButterflyMX® Cloud-based smartphone video intercom systems for multifamily properties, gated communities, and commercial buildings. No more lost keys, pin pad malfunctions, or running down 4 flights of stairs to let someone in the building.
SunPower Corporation think of Ring or Nest for Solar power. The next generation of solar.
Snapdocs Digital Property closing documents. Will you miss driving to the Title Agency building, reading an outdated US Weekly magazine while you wait your turn to manually sign 47 times?
Pacaso Co-Ownership for 2nd homes. There's an alternative to either purchasing that Italian villa, or simply renting it. You can co-own it with 5 or 6 owners, and split the maintenance costs and financing. Deal.
DoorLoop and FYVE are Cloud-based do-it-all apps for landlords and property managers. Some property managers still (still!!) work off excel spreadsheets and post-it notes. Yikes. These software companies simplify those tasks, in one easy-to-manage format.
Matterport 3D home images, virtual hotel tours, and even interactive Commercial real estate mapping. Matterport brings real estate to life and does away with the herky-jerky "virtual tours" that we never click on (or we regret clicking on). Next-level tool for realtors, brokers, and hospitality owners.
Homie Real estate listing/buying tool. As of this writing, Homie has saved buyers and sellers over $155M in fees. A new spin on the traditional model, Homie has W2, local agents that are well-trained and experienced. Their Agents do 20x+ more deals per year than the average traditional RE agent. As a matter of fact nearly half of their RE agents are top 500 in the local market.
Alcove Did you know that commercial buildings produce 40% of all global emissions? "Here at Alcove, we believe the future of climate tech begins by empowering scientific experts with the tools they need to scale the global decarbonization effort."
Barkably Dog-friendly apartments, ranked and reviewed. Don't rely on a one-line "pet policy" statement buried on an apartment's website. Get the real insider info, build a profile, and find the best match for you and your 4-legged friend.

As Brendan said, there's a tremendous opportunity in the Proptech space, and as you see above, there are so many segments and subsegments. I suspect in even 5-10 years from now, the way we buy, sell, live, work, and interact with real estate (both personal and commercial) will be dramatically different than today.

Here's to the future of this industry, and the thought-leaders, CEOs, and Founders leading this charge.

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