Backing the “next tiny giants”: EG launches $100 million proptech incubator

Sydney-based investment manager EG is backing the future of Australian property technology, today announcing a $100 million incubator called EGX.

The fund, which will eventually expand its mandate into the fintech space, is already supporting three proptech companies from Australia and New Zealand: Willow, Reveal and FLNT.

The incubator will provide seed and Series A funding to proptech founders, and EG hopes the incubator will shake up the sector as it gets “behind the next tiny giants”.

In addition to early-stage funding, EGX will support these companies as they grow, with a commitment to lead them all the way to an initial public offering (IPO) while ensuring a return for investors.

“The real estate and property industry is ripe for disruption. Technology is bringing amazing opportunities to the table and it is important that start-ups with ambitious teams and great ideas find the support they need to bring these ideas to life,” EG CEO Adam Geha said. 

“As a real estate funds manager, EG is constantly innovating to deliver the best, risk-adjusted returns for our investors and that clearly involves deployment of world-leading technology.

“This is why we launched EGX. It’s here to fuel the future of proptech, and help solve tomorrow’s challenges for the entire industry. We address a gap in the collaboration between industry expertise and entrepreneurs.”

Amongst the technologies that EGX is particularly looking into are those that have the potential to drive the future of the real estate industry including digital twins, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, sustainability technology and more. 

The fund says the three companies already in its portfolio are each playing in a promising area of proptech and include:

• Willow - co-founded by EG, this Australian-based company empowers property owners and operators to make proactive, data-led decisions in real time to grow profits, reduce expenses and better manage risk through its digital twin technology WillowTwin. The company has already raised $58 million and is expanding globally.
• FLNT - An Australian startup that gives commercial real estate managers better insights into data.
• Reveal - A Kiwi company that is helping cities and engineering firms build digital twins that provide accurate mapping for sub-surface infrastructure.

“Data is at the core of pretty much every technology innovation today - the demand for solutions that help companies manage and make sense of data is huge, and this is why FLNT is uniquely positioned to become a key player in this field,” FLNT executive director Albert Eichholzer said.

“However, while the proptech market is very exciting and experiencing fast growth, it is also crowded.

“Being able to get support from investors and business experts that not only understand technology but also the intricacies of the real estate market is key to turning our ideas and ambitions into a reality, and this is why EGX makes a perfect partner.” 

EGX executive director Sangeeta Venkatesan said the incubator plans on raising a further $100 million over the next two years, and expand into the fintech space which it sees as a key partner to the proptech market.

“We have already received incredible interest from third party investors, in particular as some of our portfolio investment companies are on track to becoming global Proptech players,” Venkatesan said.

“The potential for returns in these high growth market segments is high, and our role at EGX is to multiply the impact of investors’ ROI (return on investment).”