Following its successful debut in 2017, Expo Real's Real Estate Innovation Network (REIN) is preparing to showcase another raft of start-ups at the international property exhibition in Munich this October.

rein

Rein

25 real estate related start-ups and prop-tech companies have been selected in a competition process to exhibit at Expo Real, supported by 13 sponsors, which include CBRE, Haworth, Nemetschek, PwC, STRABAG and Union Investment, firms which all backed REIN in 2018. Additional sponsors this year are Aachener Grund, Berlin Hyp, BNP Paribas REIM, Commerz Real, Corpus Sireo, UBS and WISAG.

'All participants are offering solutions that are really relevant to the property sector,' said Claudia Boymanns, exhibition director of Expo Real and co-initiator of REIN.

In line with this philosophy, the categories of the contest are 'Invest', 'Market', 'Plan & Build', 'Work' and 'Manage & Operate'. A new addition is 'Smart Cities & Urbanisation', as, according to Boymanns, technology companies play a crucial part in shaping the future of the city.

'What’s special about REIN is that we want to promote digital innovation in the entire value chain,' Boymanns added.

To find the final 25, 1,600 firms were invited to compete, 460 applied, and the REIN jury - comprising over 50 international industry experts - whittled the businesses down to 55.

The finalists were presented at a pre-pitch in Berlin on 25-26 April, where the winners were selected.

In 2018, a further 50 Expo Real exhibition places are also being allocated at favourable conditions to start-ups that would like to get involved.

'With REIN, we have succeeded in building up a European ecosystem for innovation in the property sector,' said Wolfgang Moderegger, founder and co-initiator of REIN.

'We regard REIN as an open innovation platform to link leading real estate companies and new technology enterprises,' Moderegger concluded.