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Thanks to the proliferation of apps, social media and other online platforms, there is widespread availability of data that can be used to improve products. It’s known as big data, and it’s a big deal: new, complex and robust data sources can be tapped into to solve new problems. But, much of this data is also unstructured, meaning that a lot of current and traditional software can’t manage it, according to Oracle. What does this...

The real estate industry is primed for the deployment of robotic and cognitive automation (R&CA) technology, an innovation that has made it possible to improve administrative functions in a variety of capacities. While categorized together, robotic automation and cognitive automation are actually two distinct approaches towards automation with their own respective potential and limitations. How does robotic and cognitive automation work? Robotics process automation (RPA) utilizes frameworks and “if/then” conditions to efficiently complete repetitive tasks...

There are countless tedious tasks associated with owning or managing a property. Whether you’re a landlord, a homeowner selling a home, or a tenant seeking a home, you likely have to deal with contracts, open communication and property viewings. However, the rise of machine learning — a subset of artificial intelligence which, put simply, allows computers to learn from data without being trained to do a specific task — has made automating these tasks easier....

Virtual and augmented reality may be well-known as a technology used for entertainment, but it has important uses in health, retail, and of course — real estate. Using VR and AR for real estate is not exactly new, as companies have been perfecting the technology over the last several years. However, a lot has changed about how the industry uses it, how technologists build it for optimal use and how we think about its future....

While technology is having a major impact on how properties are managed and sold, it’s also having an impact on how properties are created. 3D printing, which allows people to create three-dimensional objects with digital files, is changing the way that we design and create homes and other buildings. With lower cost for materials and a healthier carbon footprint, 3D printing is set to make housing more accessible and design structures previously impractical using current...

On December 4, Techstars hosted a Demo Day for its Colliers Proptech Accelerator, a Toronto-based program that helps property tech startups overcome business challenges and find investors. The Demo Day is the culmination of a three-month program that gives proptech entrepreneurs access to mentors from Colliers, a Canadian real estate services organization boasting 400 offices in 68 countries. This year, the accelerator received applications from over 50 countries. Many of the startups in this cohort...

In many industries, technology is one of the biggest drivers of disruption, and real estate is no exception. It’s something that many real estate investors are anticipating. According to CB Insights, global property tech (proptech) investment is projected to reach a record US$6.3 billion across 382 deals in 2019, compared to US$4.5 billion invested across 399 deals in 2018. To support this emerging breed of startups, new programs and investment firms are cropping up. In...