BREAKING PROPERTY NEWS – 13/09/2022
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
Zoopla: Alto reveals speaker line-up and agenda for first virtual event
- Taking place on 14th September, Altogether Live will feature a wide range of speakers including industry veterans, Proptech leaders and the product team at Alto
- Altogether Live will give agents the chance to see Alto’s latest features and functionality, network with fellow property professionals and win prizes – all in a state-of-the-art virtual world
- Attendees will also have the opportunity to speak with Alto experts, see what’s next on the roadmap for Alto and get exclusive downloadable content to share with their branch
Alto, the leading cloud-based software for agents and part of Zoopla, has announced the speaker lineup and agenda for its upcoming virtual event.
Altogether Live will take place in a state-of-the-art virtual world – each attendee will have a unique avatar that can interact through live chat or video calling with other attendees, as well as collecting swag items and attending dynamic speaking sessions. These sessions will include:
- The Altogether Live panel with Mike Delap, Team Lead at Vouch, Jo Wall, Partnership Success Manager at Smartsearch, Christina Harris, Lettings Manager at Cheffins, and Tara Lynch, Head of Product at Alto. The panel will be moderated by Kristjan Byfield, Co-Founder at Base Property Specialists and The Depositary and will discuss the role of Proptech in helping agents to meet market challenges.
- The UK housing market at a turning point with Richard Donnell, Executive Director of Research & Insight at Zoopla, and James Toogood, Sales Director at Alto. This session will focus on what agents should care about most as we head into 2023.
Agents can view the full agenda and speaker lineup here – and can also sign up to join the 180 registered attendees. Attendees will also have the opportunity to create a digital swag bag of exclusive downloadable content to share with their branch.
Commenting on the event, Simon Woodward, Director of Product at Alto said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming agents to Altogether Live next week, with plenty of informative and insightful sessions featuring on the jam-packed agenda. Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit our expo floor, where they can learn about Alto’s sales, lettings, marketing and client accounting functionality that makes us really stand out from the crowd.”
Kristjan Byfield, Co-Founder at Base Property Specialists and The Depositary comments: “I’ve long been a fan and advocate of the proptech space and what benefits can be derived from this by agents. The ongoing innovation in this space, both by individual specialist products and the broader CRM space, has only seen this accelerate as we inch closer to a seamless, integrated landscape. I’m really excited to moderate this talk with one of the biggest proptech company’s in the UK, Zoopla, and some of the leading offerings in this space in shape of Vouch & Smartsearch. I’m excited to see what thoughts and insights will be shared on the day.”
Sway Ventures Welcomes Former Blackstone backed, EQ Office CEO Lisa Picard as Partner on Its PropTech Investing Team
Lisa Picard brings 25 years of real estate experience and joins Sway Ventures as a Partner, investing in the sustainable digital transformation of the built world.
PRESS RELEASE: Sway Ventures today announced that multi-decade commercial real estate operator and former Blackstone backed, EQ Office CEO, Lisa Picard has joined the firm as a Partner. Picard adds to the PropTech team at Sway Ventures, which includes Ray Wirta, former Chairman of CBRE, as well as advisors including Doug Holte, CEO for Hines Global Innovation & ESG; Stephanie Fuhrman, former MD of Innovation at Greystar; and Mollie Fadule, Chief Financial & Investment Officer at JPI Companies; among others.
“We are so excited to welcome Lisa to Sway Ventures and are confident that her extensive experience across commercial real estate as an operator will be an asset to our investing team and portfolio companies alike,” said Brian Nugent, Founding General Partner at Sway Ventures. “We have no doubt she will be a valuable contributor to Sway’s PropTech investing practice.” Venture Partner, Ray Wirta added, “It’s rare to see such a seasoned real estate veteran like Lisa join the world of PropTech investing.”
“We are witnessing a major shift in the real estate space as technology is fundamentally transforming the industry…”
“I’m thrilled to be joining the team at Sway Ventures at a time of evolution and maturation for PropTech,” said Lisa Picard. “We are witnessing a major shift in the real estate space as technology is fundamentally transforming the industry and redefining everything from the client experience, to how owners and operators manage risk. Sway Ventures was an early mover in the space nearly a decade ago, and I’m looking forward to deploying capital into the next generation of category-leading PropTech companies.”
Picard joins Sway following her 25-year career in nearly every area in real estate having developed $8+ billion in complex ground-up projects (i.e., office, multifamily, hotel, and mixed-use). Most recently, she was the CEO of Blackstone’s office investment platform, EQ Office, leading the 200-person organization and strategy for a portfolio valued at over $27 billion.
Picard has a track record for innovative, high-quality projects that push the market in areas of customer experience and sustainability. Picard holds two master’s degrees from MIT and continues to lecture on topics including design thinking and mindful leadership, as well as driving innovation and understanding risk. Prior to Blackstone, she opened the West Coast office for Skanska Commercial Development launching four development deals in five years valued at over $3 billion (with successful exits to institutional investors).
Picard has also held leadership positions at Canyon Ranch Resorts and Hines and spent several years developing investment strategies for three different institutional funds on new and existing multifamily and industrial assets. She brings formidable asset management, innovation, and business transformation expertise to Sway Ventures.
“Lisa has been someone that founders like myself look up to when it comes to her insight and vision around the transformation of this industry,” said Matt Ellis, CEO and founder of Measurabl, a Sway Ventures PropTech portfolio company. “Her addition is a further vote of confidence in the team at Sway, and we look forward to working with her.”
Sway Ventures has deep roots in both the real estate and construction sectors with nearly a decade of investing expertise across all stages. They were early investors in a number of pioneering PropTech companies, including Measurabl, the ESG platform built for commercial real estate, OpenGov, the modern cloud software for government, and Camino, a next-generation platform for permitting, licensing, and remote inspections. Since 2013, Sway Ventures has invested more than $80 million in PropTech and adjacent companies.
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