Bright Spaces, a proptech startup developing a digital solution for viewing, managing and renting/selling real estate portfolios, was the winner of the Wild Card category in the first PropTech Championship. This competition, the first of its kind, was organized by the PropTech Sweden association, of which the startup is now a member, and Skanska Commercial Development Nordic.
The first PropTech Championship was organized with the goal of finding solutions that can accelerate digitization and real estate innovation so that the industry can meet new customer requirements and environmental goals.
Registrations were opened on December 9, for any European company with a proptech solution that fell into one of the following categories:
- Smart Buildings and Data Analytics
- Carbon Footprint Neutrality
- Wild Card
After Bright Spaces was chosen as one of the 4 Wild Card semifinalists, the startup was designated the winner of this category and one of the main finalists of the entire competition.
On March 25, the competition final took place in Stockholm, where Bright Spaces was represented by Bogdan Nicoară, CEO & Co-Founder, and Cătălin Drăguțoiu, Head of Sales Europe. Their pitch consisted of a 3D digital showcasing of a future Skanska building in Sweden, in front of the jury composed of:
- Anna Kinberg Batra, Chairman Svensk Solenergi. Soltech Energy Sweden AB and board member Castellum, Polarium și Cinis Fertilizer
- Henrik Ahnström, Director of Product, Process & Innovation Skanska
- Sanna Walfridsson, Consultant European PropTech LMRE
- Jan Elfving, SVP Operational Efficiency Skanska
- Jo Mortensen, EVP Technology, Innovation & Green Business Skanska
Only 3 companies reached the final stage of the PropTech Championship, and the grand prize went to the Swedish startup that optimizes performance for HVAC systems, Sally R.
“I am proud of our team and what we managed to create in a very short time: a pilot project to showcase in 3D an off-plan building, with a minimum of information. We are honoured to have won the Wild Card category and to have had the opportunity to participate in the Stockholm final. We learned a lot – for which we thank the members of the jury. Through these competitions and all our partnerships, we aim to put Bright Spaces on the map and deliver the global solution we imagine.” Bogdan Nicoară, CEO & Cofondator Bright Spaces
“Bright Spaces were such a worthy wildcard winner. The Jury were so excited about the solution, one Jury member was ready to buy the solution on the spot himself! Their track record is amazing and I have no doubt their expansion is going to be far reaching. They are definitely one to watch in the PropTech sector. Bright Spaces , Bright Future!” Roger Tofft, CEO & Founder at Proptech Sweden
“We had high hopes on the Proptech Championship, and still the result outperformed what we aimed for. Bright Spaces was one of the pitching companies that with passion fully embraced the challenge and delivered a solution and proposal for future collaborative innovation. Winning the wild-card category, Bright Spaces made it to the final making an impact on the jury, just barely falling short and ending up as the runner-up”. Henrik Ahnström, Director of Product, Process and Innovation Skanska
In November 2019, Bright Spaces won first place in the Leasing category of the PropTech Hackathon organized by Skanska’s commercial development business unit in CEE in Romania, with the support of PropTech Romania. Since 2020, Bright Spaces has been collaborating with Skanska’s commercial development business unit in CEE in Romania for Equilibrium 1 and 2 buildings in Bucharest, with the goal of scaling the collaboration in the region and beyond.
“We are more than happy that Bright Spaces was one of the main finalists of this competition and also proud to be the partners of a valuable Romanian start-up, which proves once again that it deserves its place on the global map of innovation. Bright Spaces solutions have helped us come up with an immediate answer, taking into account the demands of our customers and the times we live in that require automation, efficiency, easy accessibility in an increasingly dynamic market, such as real-estate, and to revolutionize the way we present our buildings and office spaces, now through 3D virtual reality. The Skanska Spaces platform has played an important role in redefining the industry through digitization, and I am conviced that Bright Spaces’ solutions will continue to do this from now on. ” Anne-Marie Diaconu, Key Clients Management Director for Skanska`s commercial development business unit in CEE.
Bright Spaces’ startup portfolio currently includes clients from the UK, Hungary and Romania, from the commercial and residential sectors. Bright Spaces uses 3D visualization and various automation, optimization, and digitization features to accelerate the rental and sale of real estate assets. More details are available at https://solution.brightspaces.tech/commercial.
Meet the Author:
Follow my wii