Proptech Colab

Proptech Colab PropTech Colab brings together Australia and New Zealand’s property technology community to connect, collaborate and grow.

Through research, dialogue and shared insight, we’re building a stronger, smarter proptech ecosystem.

Thank you for the write up Elite Agent!
15/07/2026

Thank you for the write up Elite Agent!

42% of proptech leaders say the biggest barrier to adoption isn't the tech.
It's getting people to change the way they work.

The inaugural Proptech Pulse 2026 from Proptech Colab surveyed 146 trans-Tasman proptech leaders – 76% of them founders or CEOs – and the findings flip the script on where the real competitive edge sits.

Building software has never been cheaper or faster. But getting it adopted, integrated and trusted? That's the hard part now.

A few standout numbers:

73% say they must connect to a customer's existing systems to deliver any value at all.

72% named winning new customers as their top priority – just 18% said building AI capability.

65% rated human oversight of AI a four or five out of five. Not a single respondent rated it unimportant.

"The hardest problems founders tell us about are not technical anymore. They are about people," said PropTech CoLab's Peter Schravemade.

Antonia Mercorella (REIQ CEO and PropTech CoLab Co-founder) reinforced that point: "Customers want greater automation and efficiency, but they continue to value human oversight and accountability."

The report also flags a two-speed compliance response to AML/CTF tranche-two reforms – 43% are actively building capability while 24% are still in monitor-and-wait mode.

For anyone selling, building or buying proptech right now – adoption strategy matters more than product features.

What's the most effective way you've seen a new tool actually get embedded in a real estate business?


REACH Australia and New Zealand
Link to story in first comment 👇

One comment in this article should concern every Australian involved in startups, technology, venture capital, innovatio...
14/05/2026

One comment in this article should concern every Australian involved in startups, technology, venture capital, innovation or economic growth:

“Under Labor’s proposed new taxes, he would not have come home from Silicon Valley to build the company in Australia. He would have stayed in California.”

That quote came from Leigh Jasper, founder of Aconex, which was acquired by Oracle for $1.6 billion.

Whether you agree politically or not, this is the real issue Australia needs to grapple with:

Capital and talent are globally mobile.

Founders, engineers, operators and investors can increasingly choose where they build, where they invest and where they live.

Another line that stood out to me:

“Doubling the tax on the upside of a decade of risk does not keep founders, engineers and investors at home. It books their flights.”

Australia has spent the last decade building genuine momentum in technology and innovation. We are finally seeing globally relevant companies emerge from our ecosystem at scale.

As someone deeply involved in the Australian and New Zealand proptech and venture ecosystem, I genuinely worry about anything that unintentionally slows capital formation, discourages risk-taking or pushes founders offshore.

We absolutely need housing affordability reform.

We absolutely need thoughtful tax reform.

But we also need policy settings that encourage Australians to build, invest, innovate and scale companies locally.

Because the companies we help grow today are the employers, exporters and economic engines of tomorrow.

Excellent opinion piece by Wyatt Roy:

Australia needs a tax system that moves capital into the businesses that will pay tomorrow’s wages, not away from them.

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