South China Morning Post Article 2 July, 2019

South China Morning Post reporter Cheryl Arcibal headlined RealTechX in SCMP article ‘Australian incubator RealTechX makes a big push to scale up real estate technologies in Asia-Pacific’.

Arcibal introduced RealTechX, ‘Sydney-based Taronga Ventures has launched the RealTechX incubator programme that aims to support 10 start-ups with market-ready products or services.

A A$23 million (US$16 million) fund for property start-ups, backed by the Australian government, is seeking to bring technology-led innovation and solutions to markets in Asia-Pacific, including Hong Kong.

RealTechX, an incubator programme that aims to bring together 10 start-ups with market-ready products or services, is one of the recipients of the fund. It has received A$440,000 from the Australian government. Launched by real estate innovation and venture capital firm Taronga Ventures, a part of Sydney-based investment house Taronga Group, the RealTechX is accepting applications until July 31, with the first programme set to run from October 2019 to March 2020.’

Arcibal then continued to address the details of the RealTechX program where ‘An amount of A$1 million will be allocated to start-ups that are accepted into the programme in each batch. … RealTechX will offer tailored services to meet participant needs, including direct access to corporate customers, investment of strategic capital and expert advice on growth strategy. The programme will also support participants to expand across the Asian region through a market linkages programme to China and Hong Kong.’

Taronga Ventures’ founders Avi Naidu and Jonathan Hannam were also quoted, ‘Avi Naidu, managing director at Taronga Ventures, said that RealTechX has been designed to be an Asian programme.

“It’s Asia’s first industry-led, government-backed programme,” Naidu said. “We had significant discussion with the Hong Kong government, and really we see Hong Kong and Greater China, particularly the Greater Bay Area, as a huge opportunity to grow technology across the region.”

Jonathan Hannam, managing director at the Taronga Group, said that Australia is leading the way in innovating construction technology, which improves safety at construction sites.

“We’re seeing a huge amount of technology coming out of Australia that’s focusing on environmental sustainability, energy reduction and a greater focus on safety,” said Hannam. “It’s forcing many Australian [real estate] owners to adopt these new energy-efficiency methods. If we can bring some of those into the [Asian] region, I think it can be pretty interesting.”

Click here for the full article, ‘Australian incubator RealTechX makes a big push to scale up real estate technologies in Asia-Pacific’.