Australia’s proptech sector ‘booming’ says Sorted CEO Andrew Duncan

New statistics show the nation’s proptech start-ups are growing as rapidly as the real estate industry itself.

Sorted CEO Andrew Duncan. Source: Supplied.

The proptech industry in Australia is booming and rightly so, given how big the property market is in Australia, according to Sorted CEO and co-founder Andrew Duncan, whose company has doubled in size in the last 12 months.

Mr Duncan’s start-up Sorted, a property management platform that automates processes for renters and rental providers, has doubled its headcount in the last twelve months, with a team of 22 full-time staff now operating out of its Cremorne headquarters.

The executive said in an interview that an amalgamation of the home services and property sectors is imminent, and is set to create an entirely new sector for the market.

Australia’s proptech industry is growing rapidly due to changing customer needs, expectations and increased demands for disruption in the property and home services sector, he said.

Statistics from one of Australia’s leading proptech venture funds, RealTech Ventures Fund, show a rate of return of 72 per cent – well above the 25 per cent rates they promised investors – and currently there’s an estimated 381 PropTech start-ups cross the country.

Between 2013 and 2019 the number of proptechs in Australia increased by 428 per cent.

“Agents are increasingly experiencing huge pressure to improve the cost efficiency and viability of their business. Last year, more than ever, proved that innovation and the ability to rapidly adapt was absolutely critical to sustain and survive through a crisis,“ Mr Duncan said.

“We’re seeing our biggest telcos and utilities providers taking a piece of the pie from one another but what they’re failing to see thus far is the common denominator – property.

“The convergence of Australia’s home services and real estate sectors is just around the corner and Sorted is really trying to push the pedal and accelerate our path forward towards this outcome.”

According to Mr Duncan 41,000 properties are currently managed by Sorted’s real estate agent partners including Nelson Alexander, independent Property Group, The Agency, Luton, Civium and The Property Collective. Its service provider partners meanwhile include EnergyAustralia, ActewAGL, Kanopi, Holistic Insurance, Moval and Peter Sadler who are all now on-board the platform.

The proptech start-up raised $5.6 million in a funding round led by early-stage venture capital fund Rampersand in May 2020. Mr Duncan sold his first venture, Serviceworks Group, to Computershare for $54.3 million in 2011.

“Fortunately for us, Australia’s property industry is opening its eyes to the potential for technology to kickstart a long overdue revitalisation of the sector,” Mr Duncan said. “We’re extremely fortunate to be seeing the kind of growth and momentum that we’ve been able to experience in the last 12 months and look forward to broadening our products and services to drive further innovation and enhance customer experience for Australia’s property and home services industries.”

The launch of new Sorted app will signal Australia‘s first ever and largest digital home services marketplace, Mr Duncan said, with the app to feature insurance and other features, bringing together the property and home services sectors in to one place.

“Covid was a huge shock to begin with, like it was for everyone, but we have had a lot of growth over the past year and Australia‘s real estate market is booming,” he said.

“We see ourselves in a position where our platform is now built, it’s being tested, and we’ll be working with the industry to scale it up with industry partners and get it out into international markets as well.

“It‘s a really exciting time for real estate and that convergence with service is something that’s really happening at a rapid rate. It will result in a better experience for customers and that’s what we’re trying to do.”