Construction design platform Alice Technologies bags fresh capital to expand

Alice Technologies, a startup developing software to help construction companies plan projects including bridges, tunnels, high-speed rail systems and mixed-use towers, today announced it raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Vanedge Capital, with participation from Access Partners, Bouygues, Gaingels, GRIDS Capital, JLL Spark and MetaPlanet. According to CEO René Morkos, the proceeds will help fuel hiring and product development.

Prologis is buying Duke Realty in an all-stock transaction valued at $26 billion, including the assumption of debt, the companies said

The deal marks the largest commercial real estate sale since the start of the pandemic, according to real estate analytics firm Green Street, and is the latest in a string of blockbuster acquisitions in the sector. Warehouses and distribution centers have been a particularly hot property type—especially during the pandemic—because consumer shopping habits have been shifting online. …

Weekend Interview: JLL Spark Managing Partner Raj Singh

Proptech Firm Embue Gets Bigger Adoption by 2Life

As the frog once sang, it’s not easy being green. In commercial real estate, there are two ways of taking that: reducing carbon footprint to improve ESG standing and also reducing costs at a time of inflation to retain more folding green in the profit column. That, presumably, is why affordable senior housing company 2Life Communities is extending its use of building management and control software from Embue.

Houze, a Vietnamese Proptech Startup Raises Another $2 Million for Rapid Growth and Expansion

Houze, a proptech startup based in Vietnam that offers a fully integrated real estate ecosystem for agents and customers through its offline-to-online platform, has raised a $2 million of funding led by DKRA Group, giving the company resources to continue expanding its services and growing its team to meet the demand in Vietnam and beyond.

Proptech startup Guesty appoints David Aber as CFO

Israeli startup Guesty has announced the appointment of David Aber as Chief Financial Officer. Aber arrives at Guesty from his previous role as CFO of Seeking Alpha, the world’s largest investing community, and formerly served as CFO for top Israeli tech companies, including Taboola, Powermat, Finjan, and DSP Communications. “David is considered one of the leading CFOs in the Israeli tech scene and we are delighted to have him join the team,” said Guesty’s Co-Founder and CEO, Amiad Soto…

The massive opportunity going unmet in real estate

Primarily driven by technological change (currently fast and most likely getting faster), the work we do, and how and where we do it, is upending every facet of the products and services delivered by the real estate industry. Simply put, the form factor and operation of real estate, across all asset classes, is in need of reinvention. What customers of real estate want is not what the industry has historically provided. Whilst famously not a fast industry to change, the extraordinary forcing fac…

Is a mass timber construction boom coming to America?

When it opens up to tenants later this month, the Ascent, a 25-story, $125 million luxury high-rise in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will offer an array of swanky amenities, including an indoor dog track and spa, electric car chargers, and a golf simulator.

PropTech limehome continues to expand in the Netherlands

limehome, Europe’s technology provider for the hospitality industry and operator of fully digitalised design flats, will open a third location this summer in Eindhoven, in the Dutch region of Brabant, following Amsterdam and The Hague. Eindhoven is considered the design capital of the Netherlands. On the former gasworks site in the centre of the city, a new urban quarter will be built this summer, combining living, working and culture. limehome will build ten design flats with their own outdo…

DATA | Why architects embrace energy modelling to slash emissions

More than three-quarters of projects tracked by the American Institute of Architects have used building simulations to cut predicted energy use. As part of the AIA’s 2030 Commitment, which calls for all new developments and major renovations to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, architects around the world submit their portfolios with emissions-related metrics.