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KPMG High Growth Ventures and Taronga Ventures have joined hands to accelerate Australia’s RealTech ecosystem

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KPMG Australia’s High Growth Ventures group recently announced a new strategic alliance with leading Asia-Pacifc built environment investors Taronga Ventures and its RealTech Venture Fund – RealTech Ventures I.

Under the alliance, a program of activities and research will be undertaken to support the development of startups and innovation within Australian’s burgeoning RealTech sector.

This will include investor and industry events, sector research, startup and founder programs and an accelerator program focused on nurturing early stage companies that are looking to enhance or disrupt the real estate sector.

“Real estate is the world’s largest sector, with a total global value of over US$217 trillion,” said Amanda Price, KPMG Australia’s Head of High Growth Ventures, “and is at the cusp of a tech-driven revolution. The digital transformation of the real estate sector has already commenced in markets such as New York, San Francisco, London and Stockholm and is expected to have a significant impact on all aspects of real estate.”

“We believe that Australian startups can help lead this revolution in the Asia-Pacifc region. We have founders who understand the space, we have innovative technologies, we have an extremely sophisticated built environment sector due to the institutional nature of our REIT market. Much in the way that Australian emerged as a regional fintech leader thanks to building a community – this alliance is the first step in building a globally relevant Australian RealTech sector,” said Ms Price.

What else will this alliance aim for?

In addition to jointly rolling out programs targeting both the built environment industry and RealTech startups, the alliance will see KPMG’s Amanda Price join the Advisory Council for the Real Tech Venture Fund alongside former NSW Liberal Party leader Kerry Chikarvosky, former Chief Investment Officer for NRMA Melanie Willis and former Chief Investment Officer (Real Estate) for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Mark Burton. The majority of the Fund will invest in real estate related startups that will enhance the real estate life-cycle including planning and financing, design and construction, sale and development, leasing and management and sustainability.

Jonathan Hannam, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Taronga Group commented: “For institutional owners of real estate, being ahead of the curve on innovation is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ – it is becoming critically important for future-proofing your business. This is creating huge opportunities for startups serving and disrupting the originators, owners and operators of our most important asset class – property. The alliance with KPMG will help us to create a RealTech ecosystem that will support and nurture the investments we make and help them to grow into Asia and beyond.”

Avi Naidu, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Taronga Group said: “While investment into innovation in the real estate sector has been slow compared to sectors like financial services, this is quickly changing. Many of the largest owners of real estate have realized that in order to ensure long term returns for their portfolios they need to act now to ensure these assets remain relevant to changing consumer demand. And we see this accelerating with huge model shifts in commercial, retail and accommodation as digital technologies create new ways to work, live and play.