What Mattered This Year - 2023
Happy New Year everyone.
Normally, What Matters This Week is a quick summary of articles, news, and fundings that mattered this week in PropTech. No hype or marketing. This week, we are adding details on the most important stories and fundings from all of 2023.
I apologize for the length of this version of the weekly update but I hope you enjoy these year-end summaries.
If you’d like to join the community, you can here.
Fundings:
BotBuilt, a robotic building startup, raised a $12.4M Seed round.
Escrowpay, an Indian payments platform, raised a $6.6M A round.
Final Offer, an offer mgmt platform for agents, raised a $1.1M round.
Lodgerin, a Spanish rental marketplace and manager, raised a €400K Seed round.
SimpleEstate, a Russian CRE investment platform, raised a $339K round.
News:
Articles:
Top-tech read of the week:
Biggest Fundings from 2023: Note that this year, we tracked $16.2B globally.
H2 Green Steel, a Swedish decarbonized steel maker, raised a €1.5B round.
Hybar, a metal recycling rebar mill, raised a $700M Debt and Equity round co-led by TPG Rise and Global Principal.
LendInvest, a British resi mortgage fintech, raised a £500M round from Chetwood.
1KOMMA5°, a German resi decarbonization platform, raised a €430M B round led by G2VP at a €1B valuation.
EquipmentShare, a construction equipment rental startup, raised $400M in Debt.
Electric Hydrogen, a clean hydrogen company, raised a $380M C round led by Fortescue.
TAB, a British CRE bridge loan marketplace, raised a £300M Debt round.
Our Next Energy, a battery developer, raised a $300M B round co-led by Fifth Wall and Franklin Templeton.
EquipmentShare, a construction equipment rental solutions provider, raised a $290M round led by BDT.
SageSure, an insurance platform for Resi and CRE, raised a $250M round co-led by Amwins and Flexpoint, at a $1B+ valuation.
Most Popular News:
Most Popular Articles:
VCs overestimated how fast PropTech startups could scale, by Fortune.
PropTech Companies Need To Get Better at Pitching in 2023, by Propmodo.
Generative AI is building the foundation of PropTech’s next wave, by TC.
The hotel of the future, by McKinsey.
Is PropTech the right term to describe RE innovation? by LMRE.
How ChatGPT Will Change RE — In Its Own Words, by Bisnow.
RE agents say they can’t imagine working without ChatGPT now, by CNN.
It’s the ‘single best time’ to invest in real estate startups, according to Pete Flint.
AI and the evolution of PropTech, by JLL
Most Popular Long reads:
Houlihan Lokey’s 1H 2023 PropTech Market Update.
DC Advisory’s Jan 2023 Market Update.
Houlihan Lokey’s 2022 PropTech Year in Review.
LMRE’s PropTech Salary Report 2023.
Lighthouse’s Q1 Short-term rental data story.
Juniper Square’s State of Venture Capital 2023 Survey.
AngelList’s State of U.S. Early-Stage Venture & Startups: 2Q23.
CRETI’s 2023 PropTech VC Report.
SheaCo’s RE Software Market Map.
Top-tech reads of the year:
The 2023 Negative CAC Market Map, by FirstMark.
14 Charts That Tell the Story of AI Right Now, by Newcomer.
The Final Breaths of Silicon Valley Bank, by The Information.
3 Charts Show It’s Not Easy Being A Seed Startup These Days, by CB.
Intelligent vs. Smart, by Morgan Housel.
Do VC specialists outperform generalists? by PitchBook.
How Markets Value Software Companies in 2023, by Tomasz Tunguz.
Where does VC go from here? by RandomWalk.
Why Every Startup Needs an AI Strategy, by Tomasz Tunguz.
Let’s look at the most popular articles we published that were for paid subscribers only:
Our first pair of market maps on MF Tech and Real Estate Data (shoutout Cherre).
Our People Power List updated on March and September, as well as our Company Power Lists for Spring and Winter.
A couple of my PropTech Hot Takes.
And the tale of How I Accidentally Started an Angel Group
And finally, the 11 episodes of our new Podcast, with:
Thanks for reading! If you think I missed something important, send me a note and I’ll get it in next week’s edition.