Second Century Ventures Announces First REACH Australia Class

MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors^®, today announced its inaugural REACH Australia cohort. REACH is a technology growth accelerator program designed to launch and propel companies into the real estate industry. Second Century Ventures announced the global expansion of its award-winning REACH accelerator in July of 2019 to further support the international real estate sector. REACH Australia is the first region opened outside of the United States.

"Launching this international arm of NAR's REACH accelerator program helps secure NAR's vision of fostering a dynamic, competitive real estate market that drives innovation and supports our members-first mission," NAR CEO and Second Century Ventures President Bob Goldberg said at the launch of REACH worldwide expansion. "I am very excited to welcome the 2020 REACH Australia cohort; six companies which have demonstrated the potential to transform and enhance the real estate industry."

Australia's real estate sector and its adjacent industries account for 29% of the nation's GDP, while the United Nations estimates that over 1 billion people in the Asia Pacific region are expected to move from rural to urban areas by 2030. The real estate industry, and the proptech solutions that support the market, will play a substantial role in ensuring the future success and viability of the region's cities and communities.

"We are proud to be the first high-growth proptech program to launch its scaleup cohort in Australia and the first region selected for the global expansion of REACH," said REACH Australia Managing Partner Shelli Trung. "An exceptional calibre of companies applied for this distinction, making the final selection extremely challenging. We look forward to engaging and growing the real estate community through technology with top tier companies from Singapore, New Zealand and Australia."

The successful applicants have collectively raised more than US$30M in capital and are employing over 120 people globally. The companies chosen for the REACH Australia Class of 2020 are: 

• igloohome; Smart access solutions for the home, property owners and infrastructure industries, including integrated locks that automatically generate time-sensitive PIN codes for reliable and secure entry.
• PAM (Mediabank); Real-time centralised smart navigation to transform large venues into smart precincts that become more pleasurable, productive and profitable.
• Sorted; A unified platform for real estate practitioners, landlords and householders to work together across the whole property management life cycle.
• Really; An integrated B2B project management, e-tendering and open marketplace solution for the real estate sector.
• UbiPark; Connecting smart parking to the smart building revolution.
• Uxtrata; A modern cloud-based, full-featured, end-to-end SaaS platform that supports strata management, including a payment solution.

"We look forward to accelerating the growth of these six companies, their unique technologies and the inspiring founders at the helm of each," said Dave Garland, managing director of Second Century Ventures. "The REACH Australia Class of 2020, along with REACH's continued worldwide expansion, will be instrumental in shaping change in the real estate industry through a global network of real estate industry professionals, strategic partners, investors, mentors and innovators."

If you are interested in helping advance the next generation of real estate technology entrepreneurs, sign up for REACH Australia's insight panel and get exclusive access to review or receive trial accounts from the REACH Australia Class of 2020. Learn more here.

The National Association of Realtors^® is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.4 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

About REACH Australia

REACH Australia helps launch and accelerate the most promising new technology companies in the real estate and adjacent industries through an intensive event-based program. Headquartered in Melbourne, REACH Australia will leverage an exceptional community of real estate industry executives, investors, mentors and entrepreneurs, along with the global REACH Accelerator network. For more on REACH Australia, visit. www.nar-reach.com/australia.

About REACH

REACH is a unique real estate technology accelerator created by Second Century Ventures, a strategic technology investment fund backed by the National Association of Realtors®, which leverages the association's more than 1.4 million members and an unparalleled network of executives within real estate and adjacent industries. The REACH Accelerator program helps technology companies launch into the real estate vertical and its adjacent markets. The program provides education, mentorship and market exposure to one of the world's largest industries. For more on REACH, visit http://www.narreach.com.

SOURCE National Association of Realtors