Among the many industries that weave together the fabric of the American economy, real estate has consistently ranked as one of the most impactful. It is one of the largest industries on the planet, employing millions of people and driving economic activity across residential, commercial and industrial markets. In the United States alone, the real estate and rental and leasing field supports roughly 2.4 million jobs, with hundreds of thousands of people working as brokers and sales agents.
What Is Proptech?
Despite higher interest rates and a slower housing market over the past few years, the sector has remained resilient as demand for housing, property management and commercial real estate services continues. At the same time, technology is reshaping nearly every part of the business, from home searches and virtual tours to AI-enabled property valuations and automated transaction workflows.
This wave of innovation — better known as proptech — is changing how properties are bought, sold, managed and financed. And as artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital platforms become more deeply embedded in the real estate space, proptech companies are modernizing one of the world’s largest and most influential industries.
What Is Proptech?
Proptech (short for property technology) refers to the use of digital products to improve how real estate is bought, sold, rented, financed and managed. The term encompasses a wide range of tools and services, including property management software, mortgage platforms and online real estate marketplaces like Zillow and Redfin. By replacing manual processes with automation and data-driven insights, the proptech industry aims to make real estate transactions faster, more efficient and more transparent.
Real estate companies now use technology like AI to estimate property values, match buyers with listings, automate paperwork and predict market trends, while landlords and property managers rely on connected devices to monitor buildings and reduce operating costs. As a result, proptech has become one of the fastest-growing segments of real estate, transforming how consumers, investors and businesses interact with property.
A Brief History of Proptech and Its Impact
While “proptech” is a relatively new term, technology has been transforming the real estate industry for decades. Early tools focused primarily on back-office functions such as property management, investment analysis and financial modeling. And as personal computers and the internet became more widespread in the 1980s and 1990s, real estate firms increasingly replaced paper-based processes and spreadsheets with specialized software, making it easier to analyze properties, manage portfolios and complete transactions.
The industry underwent a major shift in the 2000s as consumer-facing platforms changed how people searched for and bought homes. Companies like Zillow, Redfin and Trulia popularized online listings, interactive maps and automated home valuations, giving buyers and sellers unprecedented access to real estate data. At the same time, cloud computing and mobile apps enabled agents, brokers and property managers to work more efficiently from virtually anywhere.
Proptech Companies to Know
- EliseAI
- Runwise
- Opendoor
- Findigs
- Bilt
These days, proptech extends far beyond online home listings. Real estate companies use AI to estimate property values, identify investment opportunities, generate listings, automate document review and personalize home recommendations. And building owners rely on smart sensors to improve energy efficiency and predictive maintenance. Meanwhile, digital transaction platforms have streamlined everything from mortgage applications to electronic closings.
Investment in this industry has fluctuated alongside broader venture capital markets, but innovations continue to accelerate. Rather than simply digitizing existing workflows, the latest generation of proptech companies is focused on using AI and automation to reduce costs, improve decision-making and make buying, selling and managing real estate faster and more transparent. As housing affordability and commercial vacancies continue to bring their own set of challenges, technology is expected to play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of the global real estate industry.
Top Proptech Companies to Know
Location: New York City, New York
What they do: Runwise develops smart building technology to help property owners and managers operate buildings more efficiently. Its platform connects to a building’s heating, cooling, water and safety systems, allowing users to monitor performance, control equipment remotely and receive real-time alerts about issues such as leaks, gas hazards and system failures. By combining connected sensors with software and automation, Runwise aims to reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs and improve tenant comfort.
Location: San Francisco, California
What they do: HomeLight is a real estate technology platform that matches homebuyers and sellers with agents using data-driven algorithms. It operates a marketplace connecting users with real estate professionals and cash buyers, and offers services including agent matching, home valuations and its Buy Before You Sell program, which allows buyers to unlock equity from their current home to purchase a new one prior to selling.
Location: San Francisco, California
What they do: Zumper is a digital marketplace that offers virtual property tours, instant notifications for new listings, access to verified rental properties and a space for connecting renters and property managers across North America. The platform enables renters to search, apply and lease apartments, condos and houses entirely online, with approval decisions often delivered within 24 hours.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What they do: Purchasing Platform is an automated spend management software for property management specifically. It provides a B2B online marketplace with pre-negotiated pricing from over 150 vendors, vendor management tools that eliminate credit applications and provide complete purchase audit trails, as well as customizable workflow approvals for multi-level spend control.
Location: San Francisco, California
What they do: Hover uses AI and computer vision to transform smartphone photos of properties into interactive 3D models with detailed measurements and material takeoffs, enabling users to measure, design and estimate projects accurately. Contractors and property professionals may use Hover to visualize renovations, determine precise measurements and generate cost estimates for home improvement and repair work.
Location: Denver, Colorado
What they do: AirDNA collects and analyzes short-term rental data from Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and other sources, covering millions of listings across more than 10,000 markets worldwide. The platform helps investors, property managers and hosts optimize pricing, analyze market trends and identify investment opportunities through tools like revenue calculators, competitive comp sets and performance benchmarking.
Location: New York City, New York
What they do: Findigs automates rental application decisioning for property managers using both AI and human expertise, which continuously optimize decisions against actual lease performance and help property managers fill units faster. The platform screens applicants across identity, income, employment and fraud signals, then returns an automatic approval or denial based on the property manager’s underwriting policy.
Location: San Francisco, California
What they do: Opendoor is a digital real estate platform that enables sellers to receive preliminary offers within minutes and conduct video walkthroughs to finalize purchase prices, while buyers can explore listings, schedule tours and submit offers through the app. The company buys homes directly from sellers and resells them to buyers, operating across major U.S. cities including Atlanta, Austin, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento and San Diego.
Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado
What they do: Engrain provides interactive mapping and data visualization software that helps how people find, lease and manage rental properties. Its flagship product, SightMap, is an interactive property map that enables prospective residents to search and select specific apartments on property websites, while TouchTour offers leasing and sales teams digital touring capabilities.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
What they do: Hometap provides home equity investments to homeowners, allowing them to access up to $600,000 without monthly payments in exchange for a share of future home appreciation. The company has funded more than 14,000 homeowners across the United States, offering an alternative to traditional loans and home equity lines of credit.
Location: Santa Monica, California
What they do: Luxury Presence provides real estate marketing software for agents, teams and brokerages, serving over 20,000 real estate businesses with its solutions. The platform combines website building, SEO, social media management and paid advertising with an AI-powered customer relationship management system, listing alerts and a branded mobile app.
Location: New York City, New York
What they do: Orchard operates a digital real estate platform that enables homebuyers to purchase a new home before selling their current one through its Move First service, as well as additional services such as cash offers, a home sale guarantee and pre-listing renovations. The company employs licensed agents who manage the entire home transaction, including home search, purchase and sale.
Location: Denver, Colorado
What they do: Homebot delivers personalized home finance insights to loan officers, real estate agents and other real estate professionals to help them strengthen client relationships and generate repeat business. The platform automates monthly digests featuring updated home values, equity insights and refinance opportunities, enabling professionals to engage clients and prospects with market data.
Location: New York City, New York
What they do: EliseAI operates an agentic AI platform that automates workflows for property management and healthcare organizations. With its ability to integrate with existing systems, the platform and its agents can handle leasing inquiries, tour scheduling, maintenance requests and resident communication across voice, SMS, email and web chat.
Location: Santa Clara, California
What they do: Realtor.com is an online platform for renting, buying and selling U.S. properties. It uses AI and machine learning to match listings with home buyers and renters. It also assists real estate agents by generating leads and connecting them with potential clients.
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
What they do: The Lessen platform connects property owners and managers with a nationwide U.S. vendor network to manage maintenance, repairs, capital projects and facility services across residential and commercial real estate. Its AI-powered Aiden software automates work order creation and issue diagnosis, while its One by Lessen software streamlines the complete project lifecycle from work order creation through vendor sourcing and invoicing.
Location: San Francisco, California
What they do: Qualia provides a digital real estate closing platform that streamlines title, escrow and electronic closing operations for real estate professionals and mortgage lenders. The platform integrates remote online notarization, lender operations tools and third-party services like FedEx shipping and property data to centralize the closing workflow.
Location: Austin, Texas
What they do: Closinglock provides a secure platform for real estate closings that combines fraud prevention, digital payments and workflow automation. The company serves title companies, attorneys, real estate agents, buyers, sellers and underwriters with document management, two-way messaging, payoff verification and FinCEN compliance features to protect from real estate fraud.
Location: Playa Vista, California
What they do: Crexi operates a commercial real estate data platform and marketplace that enables brokers, investors and operators to list, research and transact properties. The platform integrates machine learning and data analytics to accelerate deal workflows, with capabilities including property listings, market intelligence and transaction management.
Location: Boulder, Colorado
What they do: Digible offers digital marketing services and predictive analytics tools for apartment complexes and property management companies, with specialization in large apartment buildings and student housing complexes. Its Fiona platform uses data and machine learning to generate marketing budgets, media mix recommendations and fair housing compliance monitoring for multifamily properties.
Location: Seattle, Washington
What they do: Flyhomes provides financing technology products to help homebuyers purchase a new home before selling their existing one, such as its “Buy Before You Sell” program that leverages home equity for down payments and enables competitive cash-like offers. The company also distributes its products through a wholesale model, partnering with loan officers and real estate agents across multiple U.S. states.
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
What they do: Agora helps real estate investment firms streamline operations, capital management and investor relations. The fintech platform provides tools for fundraising, investor onboarding, investment management, cap table administration, distributions and integrated accounting services including tax preparation and bookkeeping.
Location: New York City, New York
What they do: Bilt operates a loyalty and payments platform that lets renters and homeowners earn rewards on housing payments redeemable for hotels, travel and recreational experiences or future payments. The company partners with property managers across one in four apartment buildings in the United States and has expanded into mortgage payments through partnerships with services like United Wholesale Mortgage.
