Gruhas Proptech, DLF Family Office, and Anthill Ventures Call For Applications for 2nd Edition of Proptech Scaling Program

• Proptech Industry Set to Reach $9.7 Billion by 2023
• Gruhas ASPIRE will make Strategic Investments and Enable Scale & Market Access for Cohort Startups
• Cohort 1 of the program raised more than INR 22 Crore through the program and outside investors.

Gruhas Proptech, DLF Family Office, and Anthill Ventures have announced the launch of the second edition of Gruhas ASPIRE, a six-month scaling program for early stage proptech startups. With a focus on championing transformational solutions to enhance productivity and sustainability in the construction and real estate sector, the program will enable scale and make strategic investments in cohort winners.

The announcement comes on the heels of successful delivery of the first cohort of the program; out of the seven companies in cohort 1, five have closed a round of funding and the remaining two are in the process of closing a round. Further, three of the early-stage companies have completed their product and commenced go-to-market, and another three have expanded to new geographies and achieved scale.

The program has brought in pilots, forged partnerships with manufacturing and distribution partners, refined business models, and helped with branding and thought leadership. The program partners have funded five of the seven partners directly and by leveraging their investor network. The first cohort will conclude with a demo day in Bengaluru in June.

In the second cohort, selected startups will receive dedicated support in marketing, sales, product, team, and other business challenges. The program will also enable market access via India’s leading developers and property managers. Cohort startups will have the opportunity to secure pilots and POCs through Gruhas Proptech, DLF Family Office, and Anthill Ventures’ strong corporate network, and raise capital via Anthill Angel Funds. There will also be a demo day at the end of the program, where cohort companies will have the opportunity to raise capital and develop relationships with investors, corporates, and government.

According to market research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global proptech market is projected to expand from $4.2 billion in 2018 to $9.7 billion in 2023, indicating a CAGR of 18.0%. Additionally, Mordor Intelligence forecasts that by 2025, the smart building market will reach $109.48 billion, growing at a CAGR of 12.6% between 2020 and 2025. These figures underscore the significant growth potential and market opportunities for proptech startups.

The program’s focus areas include.

• New & Emissions-Free Materials & Technologies in Construction
• Smart Property Management for Selling & Leasing
• Sustainable Properties with Clean Energy, Water Use, & Waste Management
• Investments & Financing in Real Estate

The startups will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Early stage i.e., pre-seed or seed start-ups
• Focused on the abovementioned sub-sectors.

About to complete product and commence go-to-market or have already gone to market and wish to scale.

Abhijeet Pai, Co-Founder, Gruhas Proptech: "After the overwhelming support and success of the first cohort, we are excited to build on that momentum with our second cohort of proptech startups. We believe that these startups are at the forefront of the evolution with the rising demand for sustainable solutions, government initiatives, increasing investor interest, and technological advancements. We are excited to see new startups that are leveraging technology to solve some of the industry's most significant challenges.”

Rahul Talwar, Director, DLF Family Office: “After achieving a successful and thrilling Cohort 1, I am pleased to strengthen the partnership with Gruhas and Anthill for a second cohort! Through the second edition of Gruhas ASPIRE, we aim to empower startups that tackle climate change and drive sustainability, making a meaningful impact on the environment and the society at large.

Sailesh Sigatapu, Partner, Anthill Ventures: "We at Anthill have been bullish on the urban tech and proptech market for a few years now, with investments in this space already under our belt. Our market-access focused model has shown results, and we are thrilled to continue our partnership with Gruhas Proptech and DLF Family Office to help early stage proptech startups #ScaleWithSpeed.”

 

The Gruhas ASPIRE program has proven to be a resounding success, with the first edition showcasing some impressive success metrics. The program started with seven cohort startups, all of which successfully completed the program, achieving a 100% success rate. The program engaged with over 50 corporate partners and supported the companies in raising more than INR 22 Crore in capital, from the program as well as outside investors. The program is a unique initiative that presents a significant opportunity for early-stage sustainable proptech startups to scale their businesses and contribute to the revitalization of the real estate sector. Applications for the program will close on May 31st, 2023, and the selected startups will be announced shortly thereafter.

About Gruhas Proptech Fund:

Gruhas Proptech is a venture by the people behind Puzzolana and Zerodha. Gruhas focuses on Proptech, Metals, and Infrastructure. The acceptance of climate change, high debt, job dependency and suitability need urgent attention. Decarbonizing of the sector that accounts for around 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide (UNEP) is critical to achieve the Paris Agreement commitment and the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals.

About DLF Family Office:

The DLF Family Office is one of the oldest family offices in the country. Established by the promoters of DLF Ltd, India's largest real estate company, the family office invests in equity through investments in public market funds, private market funds and direct investments in unlisted enterprises.

About Anthill Ventures:

Anthill Ventures is a global venture capital fund and speed scaling ecosystem that invests in bold entrepreneurs who are building the companies of tomorrow. With a focus on Healthcare, Mediatech, Urbantech and Consumer Lifestyle, Anthill provides targeted and timely interventions that drive transformational growth for early-stage startups. Our unique approach helps companies #ScaleWithSpeed, allowing them to reach stronger growth trajectories and unlock their full potential.

Scaling Program for Sustainable Proptech Startups Launched by Gruhas Proptech, Anthill Ventures and DLF Family Office

 

The 6-month long scaling program will champion transformational solutions in sustainability for the real-estate sector.

The program will make strategic investments in each of the selected startups.

Gruhas Proptech today announced a call for applications for Gruhas ASPIRE: Accelerating Sustainable Proptech in Real Estate, a 6-month scaling program for early-stage Proptech startups, powered by Anthill Ventures and in partnership with the DLF Family Office.

The Gruhas ASPIRE scaling program follows closely on the heels of the announcement of the Gruhas Proptech $100m fund made last year, which is slated to go live in the first quarter of FY (Financial Year) 22-23.

The program will thus invest and scale companies in the following sub-sectors:

• Construction Management, with a focus on technologies that enhance productivity and reduce inefficiencies and waste
• Property & Asset Management, with a focus on cleanliness and sustainability in resource use
• New Materials and Technologies, with a focus on emissions-free materials and technologies in construction, and
• Investments and Financing, with a focus on democratizing and enabling access to property for all

The Gruhas ASPIRE program will make strategic investments in each startup, enable market access via India’s leading developers and property managers, and provide dedicated support in marketing, sales, product, team, and other business challenges. The program will ensure that cohort startups secure POCs (Proof of concepts) through a strong corporate network and raise capital via Anthill’s investor network as well as a demo day at the end of the program.

Applications for the program will close on May 30, post which the cohort startups will be announced. The program will commence in June this year and will end in November with a demo day allowing startups to pitch to investors for further fundraising.

Abhijeet Pai, Co-Founder, Gruhas Proptech said, “The Real Estate and infrastructure industry is poised for disruption given the positive outlook of demographic and governments towards housing, green energy, infrastructure, and sustainable living. At Gruhas we want to back thought leaders in the Proptech and sustainable domain that are looking to scale through innovation and out of box thinking. The infrastructure real estate industry is the world’s second largest industry however the Proptech disruptions have just begun globally and have received accelerated industry participation and acceptance due to the pandemic.”

Sailesh Sigatapu, Partner, Anthill Ventures said, “As we emerge in a post-COVID era, the Proptech sector is flooded with innovative technologies and investments, but it is important to supplement its growth with sustainability-focused initiatives. We are therefore happy to join hands with Gruhas and the DLF Family Office to launch this program. Gruhas ASPIRE is a significant expansion of Anthill’s commitment to support early-stage startups in sustainability and smart city technologies to scale with speed in India. We look forward to enabling scale for a new cohort of market-defining technologies in this space.”

Rahul Talwar, Director at DLF Family Office said, “Construction is the biggest industry in the world, it represents 13% of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but construction has only seen a productivity growth of 1% for the past two decades. To add to that, buildings and construction are responsible for 20.7% of global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. I am happy to collaborate with Gruhas and Anthill and together assist the next wave of innovators to help solve the biggest challenges in decarbonising our planet and moving towards a more sustainable future."

The startups will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Early stage i.e., seed or pre-series A start-ups
• Focused on any of the following sub-sectors within Proptech including
1. Construction Management, 
2. Property & Asset Management,
3. New Materials and Technologies, and 
4. Investments and Financing
• Market need for their product or solution

Proptech is at an inflection point; despite the slowdowns caused by the pandemic, investments in this sector reached a record $551M in 2020. While historically the sector has been fragmented and employed traditional business practices, it is undergoing a revitalization with an influx of technologies like blockchain, AR/VR, IOT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence, and robotics. Additionally, the sector’s contribution to climate change is high, with ~40% of all emissions attributed to construction and property management. Attitudes are changing and decarbonizing the sector is critical, with clean construction materials and technologies and sustainable asset management being a focus for developers and property managers.

About Gruhas Proptech:

Gruhas Proptech is a venture by the people behind Puzzolana and Zerodha. Gruhas focuses on Proptech, Metals, and Infrastructure. The acceptance of climate change, high debt, job dependency and suitability need urgent attention. Decarbonizing of the sector that accounts for around 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide (UNEP) is critical to achieve the Paris Agreement commitment and the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals.

About Anthill Ventures:

Anthill Ventures is a global investment and scaling platform for early and growth stage startups in India and abroad. Anthill has presence in nine global hubs across the world, including offices in Singapore, Israel, USA, and India. Anthill is focusing on health and life sciences, media and entertainment, consumer lifestyle and urban technologies and sustainability. With a 3000+-strong global network of corporates, portfolio companies, and mentors, Anthill has successfully invested in and exited businesses across a range of industries and geographies.

About DLF Family Office:

The DLF Family Office is one of the oldest family offices in the country. Established by the promoters of DLF Ltd, India's largest real estate company, the family office invests in equity through investments in public market funds, private market funds and direct investments in unlisted enterprises. 

IBM working to deploy sensors and biometrics based apps in India

IBM, the tech giant is working on developing apps based on sensors and biometrics for India. The company’s enterprise division is working on it with corporates.  This means, gone are the days when you would get to know about the discounts or sales being offered at your nearby shops or malls after the sale ended. These apps would send you messages to keep you updated about the discounts being offered in the nearby shops or malls.

The US tech giant is also working on the idea of withdrawing money from an ATM without a card. IBM along with DLF, which is an Indian real estate major, will position the app for malls at the latter’s posh property in South Delhi. The ATM app would be deployed once the IBM’s analytics in India are made.

IBM is also working on some biometric projects with Indian customers in the financial services sector.

The Indian market is considered very vibrant from the mobile standpoint. Two years ago, IBM had also unveiled its ‘mobile first’ technology after it detected the fact that corporates whether small or big would need to have mobile apps for their business if they wanted to remain on the profit path.

Only 1 in 10,000 paid apps would be considered financially successful by their developers through 2018. This data was revealed during a study done by research firm Gartner on mobile apps.

Globally, over 50% of the companies that the tech giant spoke with don’t have a mobile strategy in action even today.  In India, the picture is almost the same. Of the people who invested in a mobile project, 73 percent saw a decent return on investments. More than 50 percent of the people who were surveyed got a 10 percent or more productivity increase.

According to Phil Buckellew, vice-president, enterprise mobile, IBM Software Group, the banking, financial and insurance sectors are in need of mobile applications which integrate with their back-end system instead of apps that just provide information.

Security is considered as a major problem in adoption of mobile apps. India has not been able to make the bring-your-owndevice concept a big success in the country due to the security issue.

IBM working to deploy sensors and biometrics based apps in India

IBM, the tech giant is working on developing apps based on sensors and biometrics for India. The company’s enterprise division is working on it with corporates.  This means, gone are the days when you would get to know about the discounts or sales being offered at your nearby shops or malls after the sale ended. These apps would send you messages to keep you updated about the discounts being offered in the nearby shops or malls.

The US tech giant is also working on the idea of withdrawing money from an ATM without a card. IBM along with DLF, which is an Indian real estate major, will position the app for malls at the latter’s posh property in South Delhi. The ATM app would be deployed once the IBM’s analytics in India are made.

IBM is also working on some biometric projects with Indian customers in the financial services sector.

The Indian market is considered very vibrant from the mobile standpoint. Two years ago, IBM had also unveiled its ‘mobile first’ technology after it detected the fact that corporates whether small or big would need to have mobile apps for their business if they wanted to remain on the profit path.

Only 1 in 10,000 paid apps would be considered financially successful by their developers through 2018. This data was revealed during a study done by research firm Gartner on mobile apps.

Globally, over 50% of the companies that the tech giant spoke with don’t have a mobile strategy in action even today.  In India, the picture is almost the same. Of the people who invested in a mobile project, 73 percent saw a decent return on investments. More than 50 percent of the people who were surveyed got a 10 percent or more productivity increase.

According to Phil Buckellew, vice-president, enterprise mobile, IBM Software Group, the banking, financial and insurance sectors are in need of mobile applications which integrate with their back-end system instead of apps that just provide information.

Security is considered as a major problem in adoption of mobile apps. India has not been able to make the bring-your-owndevice concept a big success in the country due to the security issue.