New Wave of Brazilian Startups Reinvent Real Estate

By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The startup market in Brazil continues to expand thanks a new wave of startups in the construction and real estate sector, or construtechs. According to venture builder Construtech Ventures, there are over 500 construtechs in the country.

Created to solve problems related to the purchase, rental, and sale of real estate, they have quickly established themselves as market leaders. Among them are the Zap Group, KeyCash, and QuintoAndar. The latter was listed by the New York Times as one of the 50 unicorns of the future – the term unicorn is used to refer to companies worth over US$ 1 billion.

For property owners and tenants

QuintoAndar streamlines the renting process by making everything from scheduling a visit to putting in an offer possible through one single app. Rather than demanding a fiador (co-signer), the app adds an insurance fee that kicks in if the renter defaults.

In three years, QuintoAndar was able to reduce the amount of time it takes to rent an apartment from one month to three days. QuintoAndar has received US$20 million in funding and is considering expanding to cities from Jakarta to London.

For real estate brokers

Meanwhile, Mega Soluções launched an app for real estate brokers. Vimob centralizes information about projects in one place, enabling brokers to present a venture, view payment conditions, negotiate, and even enter customer data for a purchase proposal.

And ZeroDistrato employs AI and big data to predict the statistical chances of a specific buyer not being able to afford their property debt and cancel the contract.

Molegolar came up with the idea that real estate that accompany the different stages of lives of the owners. The projects are assembled from intelligent modules, which can vary from 15 m² to 155 m². Over time, new modules can be purchased or sold, depending on the budget and resident’s needs.

Safety and convenience

Other companies are focused on developing exciting products for increased privacy, protection, and convenience.

Magikey, which makes smartphones work as a kind of virtual key to open doors, gates, and turnstiles, is one of them. With Magikey, a property owner can not only control who has access to a space, but know when people enter and exit – a useful feature for office buildings.

The hotel industry is investing heavily in these new technologies for competitive advantage. In the first quarter of this year, the Renaissance Hotel in São Paulo adopted the Mobile Key, a tool that makes it possible for guests to access their rooms without having to go through the reception.

The Olimpia Park Resort in São Paulo and the Atlantic Hotel in Recife followed. Soon, the technology will reach all hotels in the Marriott network in Brazil and also in residential developments like the Time Building in Maceió.