Once the darling of the tech world, proptech no longer commands the same feverish excitement it did just a few years ago. Yet, beneath the surface, the sector is quietly staging an uneven recovery. According to MetaProp’s Year-End 2024 Global Proptech Confidence Index, the industry is experiencing a gradual rebound in investor sentiment, even as startups and investors see the landscape through different lenses.
MetaProp’s benchmark index climbed to 6.4 out of 10 by the end of 2024, a modest improvement from the mid-year score of 6.2. This uptick, MetaProp noted, is partly fueled by lower interest rates and the rise of new market segments that have become unexpected bright spots. Still, the index remains well below the highs recorded between 2018 and 2021, with the exception of a dip in mid-2020. The latest number is the second highest since 2022, trailing only the year-end 2023 result of 6.5.
Private equity’s growing appetite for proptech is evident in several headline-making deals, according to PE Hub. Thoma Bravo’s portfolio company Nearmap, which operates out of Australia and Lehi, Utah, struck a deal to acquire itel from GTCR. Nearmap specializes in property intelligence aimed at streamlining property claims and plans to leverage itel’s data analytics and software to boost workflow efficiency.
Meanwhile, Blackstone made waves with a $200 million investment for a minority stake in Entrata, a provider of property management software focused on analytics, resident experience, and operations. The deal values Entrata at $4.3 billion.
Potamus Equity also reaffirmed its commitment to the sector in mid-May, injecting additional capital into Vive, a company that delivers compliance and vendor services for property managers. Potamus is known for targeting technology and business services firms it considers “underappreciated.”
Across the Atlantic, Dutch software firms Zig and Xitres—both backed by Main Capital—announced a merger to create a new entity. Xitres brings expertise in the commercial housing market with its cloud-based CRM services, while Zig had recently expanded its offerings to include renovation management, ERP, CRM, maintenance, and business intelligence solutions.
In the largest continent in the world, EQT Private Capital Asia is poised to acquire Singapore-based digital property marketplace PropertyGuru in a $1.1 billion deal from KKR and TPG.
These transactions highlight some of the major proptech moves of 2024. However, it remains uncertain whether the sector will see the same level of deal activity in 2025. PE Hub cautions that deal flow could slow significantly in the coming year, citing concerns over economic conditions, tariffs and the resulting shakeup of traditional market forces.
Despite these headwinds, PE Hub maintains that proptech deals are unlikely to disappear. Even in the face of economic stress and tariff uncertainties, investor interest in the sector remains resilient, suggesting that proptech’s story is far from over.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
