The Greater REACH of Real Estate Technology

The Greater REACH of Real Estate Technology

By Ashley Stinton

Second Century Ventures. Future proofing the next century of real estate with the power of innovation.

Incepted in 2008, NAR built Second Century Ventures with the foresight to keep REALTORS® on the cutting edge for the next century of real estate. Leveraging the association’s more than 1.5 million members and an unparalleled network of executives, Second Century Ventures helps scale its portfolio companies across the world’s largest industries including real estate, financial services, banking, home services and insurance. SCV seeks to define and deliver the future of the world’s largest industries by acting as a catalyst for new technologies, new opportunities, and new talent.

As a part of NAR’s Strategic Business, Innovation and Technology (SBIT) group, Second Century Ventures (SCV) serves as NAR’s strategic investment arm. As the most active strategic global real estate technology fund in the world, SCV invests in technologies that are transforming the real estate industry and reinforcing REALTORS®’ essential role to consumers. By investing in new and emerging companies through SCV and REACH, NAR helps these businesses access the industry in a way that is beneficial – rather than disruptive – to its members. Working hand in hand with the entrepreneurial community, SCV helps hundreds of small businesses, millions of REALTORS® and consumers, and the economy as a whole.

FinTech, PropTech, EverythingTech

With consumers becoming increasingly familiar with new technologies and new ways to research, explore, search, shop, buy, manage and maintain life’s biggest assets, REALTORS® need knowledge and access to the innovation that a new era of consumers demands. SCV evaluates companies across the residential and commercial sectors that support every stage of the real estate transaction and adjacent industries including title, escrow, mortgage, insurance, and home services.

Within the SCV and REACH portfolios, more than two dozen companies have formed unique partnerships. Most recently Letus (formerly RentMoola) and Trust Stamp partnered to transform rental accessibility and risk management with secure screening and financial tools backed by leading biometric identity verification and data protection solutions. “This partnership highlights the growing impact of intersectionality between sectors throughout the entire real estate ecosystem. Technology built in adjacent industries, verticals, or geographies will continue to drive efficiency and advancement across the property industry, which is the core of what our global Second Century Ventures and REACH portfolios seek to serve,” shared SCV Managing Partner Dave Garland.

Fueling Innovation

SCV operates the award-winning REACH scale-up program which helps technology companies achieve exponential growth in the real estate vertical and parallel markets. Rooted in a passion for accelerating real estate through people and technology, the highly curated and bespoke REACH program provides:

· Mentorship from real estate, mortgage, venture capital and technology sector leaders

· Education on how to navigate the trillion-dollar global property industry from top experts

· Exclusive opportunities at the most impactful conferences, trade shows and networking events

· Unique access to top media and academic organizations

· A global network of highly talented, like-minded entrepreneurs, including more than 180 REACH portfolio companies and curated program sponsors.

Notable examples of SCV and REACH portfolio companies that have had a profound and lasting impact within and beyond the industry include DocuSign, Notarize, BombBomb, Curbio, Landis, Knock, Occupier, Otso, and Dealius. These companies, and many more in the portfolio, have paved new paths across the real estate ecosystem bringing revolutionary new ideas in e-signature, remote online notarization, video marketing, pre-sale renovation, credit readiness, and next generation models in financing, lease accounting, and risk management. REACH companies have been named to more than 100 technology ranking and/or award programs including Inc 5000’s Fasting Growing Companies, HousingWire’s RE Tech100 and the T3 Sixty Tech500. On average, 600k members use products and services from SCV and REACH companies on an annual basis, representing a savings of more than $60M. The REACH Program has been named among the top accelerators in the U.S. by MIT’s Seed Accelerator Rankings Project.

REACH expanded its program in 2019 to offer an additional cohort for the U.S. market, REACH Commercial, which is dedicated to advancing technologies that impact all aspects of the commercial marketplace and allow REALTORS® the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with platforms that could radically change how we buy, lease, work, and live in commercial properties.

Technology Knows No Borders

In 2019, the REACH program also went global, expanding its scope with its launch of REACH Australia, and continued expansion in 2020 with the launch of REACH Canada and REACH UK programs. REACH now operates 5 scale-up programs across 3 continents (REACH, REACH Commercial, REACH Australia, REACH Canada, and REACH UK). Through NAR’s 100 bilateral agreements in 85 countries, global REACH programs have garnered the support of international partners like Propertymark. “We’re excited to be working with REACH UK to help accelerate their growth to drive digital innovations in the industry. Early engagement with these exciting companies will help members of Propertymark navigate the world of technology as it develops and give them early exposure to some of the best-in-class tech solutions,” commented Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson at the 2022 REACH UK launch.

Expanding to the Commercial market as well as overseas allows SCV and REACH to develop a thriving new marketplace of ideas and further enhance their networks of industry professionals, strategic partners, investors, and mentors.

In This Together

Industry collaboration is central to the thesis of NAR, SCV and REACH. To that end, NAR and SCV have established pivotal relationships and strategic initiatives throughout the worldwide real estate ecosystem. Notably:

- Second Century Ventures is a member of Oxford’s Future of Real Estate Initiative alongside 20 esteemed industry partners who convene to share and discuss perspectives

- NAR and SCV are proud to work with AARP to support the AgeTech Initiative, a community-driven platform to support and scale solutions addressing the needs of the 50+ market. Through the platform, AgeTech startups can connect with industry leaders, businesses, investors, and pilot opportunities to generate big ideas and further ongoing ventures.

- SCV and REACH also work closely with global organizations like AWS, Google, and Dentons to deliver critical industry insight and services for the real estate tech startup community.

- NAR is also working across the technology sphere with major tech brands like Google and Verizon to discover the impact of emerging technologies like 5G and cryptocurrency.

More Than a Fund

SCV is highly engaged with a global community focused on technology’s impact on delivering sustainable solutions for the built world. SCV frequently leverages NAR’s Sustainability group, which recently published its latest report on REALTORS® & Sustainability. Most recently, the REACH team’s expertise has been featured across numerous top real estate and built world symposiums and has fueled the development of a program dedicated to supporting sustainable technology startups.

In February of 2022, SCV partnered with CREtech to launch the Affordable Housing Technology Initiative which seeks to raise awareness and explore technology’s role in helping solve the affordable housing crisis. SCV has also supported the Food Recovery Network, an organization that helps fight food waste and hunger in America, as food insecurity is directly linked to affordable housing concerns. A jarring 8 million households lack adequate food supply – those households are 62% more likely to experience housing instability. With the support of organizations like NAR and SCV, the Food Recovery Network has provided over 5.7 million meals to date.

SCV is also passionate about supporting underrepresented candidates across the real estate, technology and venture capital industries. Just over 30% of the founders within the SCV and REACH portfolio are female, an astonishing figure for the technology sector. SCV is proud to support organizations like Women in PropTech (WIPT), WomanUp, and Chicago Blend, who seek to build and support diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities.

Ashley Stinton

Head of Marketing, Second Century Ventures & REACH