CBC Chatter: FinTech and CRE

On March 31^st, 2022, Coldwell Banker Commercial hosted its third CBC Chatter, a virtual quarterly series hosted by Senior Vice President and Managing Director Daniel Spiegel to discuss hot topics in the world of commercial real estate. This event focused on FinTech and how the rising industry is changing how everyone in CRE – owners, brokers, buyers – are being affecting by the shift.

You can watch the full recording of CBC Chatter, here.

Daniel Spiegel was joined by the following powerhouse panelists:

• Marissa Limsiaco, Co-Founder & President, Otso – Otso provides an option for landlords to replace cash deposits in their commercial leases so businesses can put essential capital to work. The program provides landlords with the strength of collateral they need with A-rated insurance from their partners, Assurely and Accelerant with AM Best Excellent Credit.
• Donna Salvatore, Founder & CEO of Megalytics – Megalytics uses big and small data to help you assess risk and validate decisions along the commercial real estate investment lifecycle from development to asset management to acquisitions to dispositions.
• Poonam Sharma, Founding Partner, Arden Digital Ventures – Arden Digital Ventures is a venture capital initiative on a mission at the intersection of property and tech.

Viewers were able to gain a deeper insight into the current state of financial solutions from sources already in the CRE space, as well as from an investors’ point of view. The varying perspectives of the panelists provided a comprehensive overview and sparked a robust discussion that included topics such as resistance to adapting new tools, the existence of too many solutions, and how the space can improve:

• Efficiency
  • There is currently a lack of efficiency on the transactional side of commercial real estate, which causes friction during the process.
  • Marissa Limsiaco of Otso explained that she created the company to address certain efficiency and quality issues, such as tenant evaluation and monitoring, a tool that did not previously exist for landlords.
  • Donna Salvatore of Megalytics also looks to reduce friction at the transactional level by using machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide a comprehensives view of tenant and industry to landlords.

• Solutions
  • As the panelists discussed, a recurring theme appeared: solutions exist to reduce friction and improve transactions, but they are hyper-focused on one problem and do not provide an exhaustive result for clients.
  • As new solutions pop up, decision makers in the space will be looking at how can solutions be packaged? How can they be combined? How can solution networks work together to create a stronger response for clients?
    • Megalytics and Otso work together closely to combine their technologies and provide landlords with all the tools they need.

• Adoptions
  • There are new tools and technologies to help, but many firms are fearful of adapting new technologies.
  • As the younger generation moves up, they are hungry for technology solutions and demanding change,
  • Poonam Sharma chimed in from the investor side to explain that venture capital firms are looking for businesses that will win by ultimately improve transparency in the transaction process. If one is looking to enter the space, they need to think about how they can improve overall infrastructure, not just singular issues.