The Proptech Podcast with Kylie Davis

In this episode, I have a fantastic conversation with Simon Berglund, the new General Manager for Australia and New Zealand at Reapit. Simon brings a unique background to the role, having started as a scientist before moving into medical sales and eventually leading private equity-owned platform companies. We discussed the massive undertaking Reapit has embarked on, integrating major acquisitions like Console, AgentBox, AgentPoint, and IRE into a single, cohesive platform known as Reapit One.

In this episode, I have a fantastic conversation with Danny Assabgy, the founder of BuildBuddy and the CEO of the major home building company, Hudson Homes. Danny shares the revolutionary story behind BuildBuddy, a platform he founded to disrupt his own industry after a customer challenged him to admit that an owner could do a better job building their house. He realized the core value a builder provides is a structured workflow, a curated trade and supply network, and expert oversight.BuildBuddy distills these core elements into an intelligent, all-in-one platform that allows homeowners, even those with no prior experience, to design and build their homes. This "collaborative construction" model cuts out the builder's margin, rewarding customers with savings of 20% or more, while giving them complete control and transparency. The platform’s secret weapon is the Construction Buddy, a licensed building professional who reports directly to the homeowner, providing expert guidance every step of the way.We also discuss the challenges and nuances of the construction industry, where the builder often unfairly "gets the bad rap" for the mistakes of tradespeople. Danny explains how BuildBuddy addresses this by implementing a transparent, customer-driven review system for trades and suppliers, aiming to elevate the quality of customer service across the industry. He shares his ambitious vision for BuildBuddy to become the single largest home building entity in Australia within five years and how they are leveraging AI to automate complex processes like generating accurate price guides.

In this episode, I'm joined by Lawrence Williamson from Avenue Bank, a PropTech with a banking license. And a warning to listeners, this is a seriously geeky episode where we dive deep into the world of bank guarantees, a critical but often overlooked financial instrument in commercial property. Lawrence explains how Avenue Bank has disrupted this decades-old, paper-based process by digitizing it, allowing customers to get a cash-backed bank guarantee in under 24 hours. And if you’re not into commercial proptech, this is where the gold is for startup listeners because its a great case study for being inch wide, and mile deep. We discuss the challenges of innovating in such a traditional space, including the industry's preference for physical documents and the "muscle memory anxiety" around the claims process. Lawrence shares some exciting insights into Avenue Bank's journey, from its humble beginnings to its recent win at the PropTech Awards, and gives us a peek into their future plans.

In this episode, I'm joined by Vishal Gupta, the founder of Property Dollar, a company that recently won at the PropTech awards. We dive into how Property Dollar is solving a national disaster, as Vishal puts it, by democratising property data and empowering buyers to make smarter decisions. He shares the challenges and lessons he's learned as a proptech entrepreneur, particularly the importance of striking a balance between technology and business fundamentals. We also discuss the broader issues facing the housing market and how proptechs like Property Dollar are working to make a tangible impact on wealth creation for all Australians.Vishal explains that Property Dollar is more than just a data tool; it's a comprehensive platform designed to meet the needs of different types of users. For first-home buyers, it provides the confidence and clarity to navigate a complex market. For owner-occupiers, it offers the tools to shift into an investor's mindset. And for seasoned investors, it provides the efficiency and optimization needed to manage a large portfolio. We also get a glimpse into the company's ambitious roadmap, its commitment to a freemium model, and the collaborative spirit of the Australian proptech community.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Aonghus Stevens, the founder of Asseti. We discuss the company's journey, starting from its roots in the drone space to becoming an intelligent asset operations platform for commercial and industrial buildings. Aonghus shares his unique background as a university-trained biologist and how that has informed his thinking that buildings are "living, breathing organisms”. We also dive into how Asseti is using this type of thinking to help property owners move from a reactive to a proactive approach to asset management, ultimately maximizing the return on their investments.Now no conversation in proptech at the moment would be complete without discussing AI, and Aonghus has some great insights into how he thinks about the value of AI in proptech businesses. But equally, we explore the value of human connections and the strong customer partnerships that Asseti are now using to expand into the US. 

In this episode, I speak with Rebecca Moroney, founder and CEO of Wayscape, a recent winner at the PropTech Awards and a new player introducing AI for real estate businesses. Rebecca introduces me to "Dee," the platform's AI assistant, and explains how her single language model is specifically trained on real estate to handle everything from managing phone calls and social media to generating appraisals.And we discuss the different components of the Wayscape ecosystem and how they work together to create a powerful, unified experience for real estate and buyer's agents while unpacking issues like Agentic AI, and the future of AI in real estate. So buckle in. This is a fascinating look at how AI is being designed to manage the back end of real estate office functions - plus so much more. 

In this episode, I interview Logan Nathan, the CEO of i4T Global, a proptech company that has transformed from a B2C idea to a powerful B2B solution for property and strata management. We delve into the significant pain points in the industry, from the chaotic process of getting quotes to the critical issue of tradie compliance and explore insights on the role of AI, particularly "Agentic AI," in automating and revolutionising strata. including some fascinating use cases, from a machine-generated work order triggered by a simple text message to leveraging rich data to predict and proactively manage maintenance needs.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Kevin Williams, the director of Core Vision, a company that has been a quiet achiever in the proptech space for nearly 20 years. Kevin shares his extensive background in software, from his early days at IBM to his entrepreneurial ventures in banking and e-filing. We dive into the story of Core Vision and its flagship product, mybuildings, a versatile facilities management system.We explore the role of mybuildings in helping clients manage assets, maintenance, and work orders across a diverse range of sectors, from commercial and retail to schools and aged care. Kevin highlights the company's strategy of "playing well with others" by integrating with other key players in the proptech ecosystem, most notably MRI and we also touch upon the future of facilities management, the evolving role of AI, and the ongoing challenge of making technology accessible and practical for everyday users.

In this episode of the Proptech Podcast I interview Alex Antal from Secure Exchange part of the InfoTrack Group. Secure Exchange is a platform designed to make property transactions safer Alex explains how Secure Exchange helps real estate agents, buyers, sellers, and conveyancers work together securely throughout a real estate transaction without relying on email for sharing sensitive information. We discuss the platform's features, how it integrates with other systems, and how it's evolved to meet the specific needs of real estate agents and the importance of cybersecurity.

In this episode, I chat with Ian Campbell. You might remember Ian. He was the founder of RiTA, Australia’s first real estate AI together with co-founder Dr Sarah Bell and the pair successfully exited the business after its sale to CoreLogic. After a bit of a break, Ian is now  founder of the venture studio Bright Young Things. And in this episode, Ian shares his passion for startups and his journey to creating a studio that focuses on early-stage venture development, from ideation to product-market fit. We discuss the importance of research and validation in the startup process, and how AI can be a valuable tool for gathering and analyzing market insights. We then delve into GoList, one of the studio's ventures, which aims to solve the lead conversion problem in real estate. Ian explains why lead generation is not the issue, but rather the industry's archaic methods of managing and converting those leads. He highlights the negative impact this has on brand reputation and service delivery, and how GoList aims to improve efficiency and customer experience.