China goes all in on proptech investment

The country accounted for 30% of all proptech startup funding

In China, Dalian Wanda Group Co. installed cameras in shopping centers to track shoppers’ movements; pictured is Wang Jianlin, Chairman and President of Dalian Wanda Group
In China, Dalian Wanda Group Co. installed cameras in shopping centers to track shoppers’ movements; pictured is Wang Jianlin, Chairman and President of Dalian Wanda Group

Investment in property technology, which allows its owners to monitor and manage commercial and residential real estate, is soaring and China is leading the way.

Proptech startup investment totaled $7.8 billion between 2013 and 2017, and China accounted for 36 percent of that, according to JLL, as reported in Bloomberg.

Last year, proptech investment jumped to almost $20 billion, and it hasn’t slowed down in 2019, Bloomberg reported.

Property technologies use data to help individuals and companies buy, sell and manage real estate. Landlords and property managers, along with companies across the industry are spending more and more to outfit offices, residential properties and retail with new smart gadgets.

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In China, developer Dalian Wanda Group installed cameras that use behavior-recognition technology at Wanda Plazas to track shoppers’ movements, including how long they spend in a store and whether they left with a bag or not.

The shoppers are recognized on their next visit, and the technology allows the group to capture the shoppers’ age, gender and shopping patterns, giving landlords more opportunity to optimize the layout. The technology is used at about 280 Wanda Plazas across China.

Shui On Land Ltd. uses facial recognition technology for an app that allows access control to its Shanghai office buildings. Through its use, Shui On Land discovered 70 percent of workers were female, so it renovated one of its shopping malls below the office area to dedicate five floors for women. [Bloomberg] — Gregory Cornfield