Innovation and Venture Investment

We’re on a mission to create a positive future for our business and the communities we work with.

Innovation is core to our ability to deliver exceptional places, with investment in technology bringing financial, operational and environmental efficiencies to our business. 

This curiosity and willingness to innovate has seen us drive many benefits for our business, customers and communities as well as change in the wider industry.

Our innovation activity addresses strategic business priorities and centres on two inter-connected work streams:

  • Future+, our employee-led innovation programme, empowers employees to experiment with solutions to strategic priorities.
  • Our Venture Investment programme builds on the success of Future+ by deploying capital into innovations that help us drive positive commercial, social and environmental outcomes. 

Driving a culture of thinking differently


By empowering our people to innovate, learn and fail we're creating a culture of curiosity across our business.

Successful trials of products and services are embedded into our processes - and in some instances may highlight a potential opportunity for investment. 

Consigli - Jamie Hart, Project Manager

An AI-powered engineering tool, optimising our development activity

Laiout - Alex Clarke, Senior Development Manager

Automated floor plan generation tool, enabling more efficient initial design phases.

Orbital - Rennae Du, Innovation Coordinator

Orbital is an AI-powered platform that's streamlining our legal document review processes.

Realyse - Oliver Ayling, Debt Portfolio Director

Realyse is a residential data platform, giving us the tools to make better informed, strategic decisions for our places and investments.

Sociability - Elizabeth Randall, Head of Public Spaces

Sociability's app helps people find accessible toilets and step-free venues, rolled-out in 150+ venues across our London portfolio.


Venture Investment

Pursuing investment opportunities that benefit our portfolio and accelerate progress towards our ambitious sustainability and commercial goals.

Since 2022, we've been investing in high potential businesses scaling innovative products and solutions that help us deliver against our goals, and can support the future of a successful, sustainable and digitised real estate industry.

Venture Investment portfolio

We invest in early-stage companies that support the delivery of our ambitious commercial and sustainability goals which have the opportunity to scale across the industry. 

As an investor in, and client to, high potential young businesses we can accelerate the commercial development of solutions critical to decarbonising the built environment’s impact whilst improving the range and quality of services we offer to our customers.

We primarily invest in businesses that are already (or soon to be) operational in the UK and raising capital at Late Seed to Series A stages.

Venture Capital funds provide us both with opportunities to diversify our income and enhance our innovation and direct investment activity.

By maximising market coverage, we secure exposure to a greater range of solutions and companies that can help us meet our goals.

At present, we partner with two funds, noa and Taronga Ventures.

Our investments

noa

Europe’s largest built world technology fund, noa specialises in investing in early-stage technology companies that transform and digitise the built environment.

Taronga Invesments

Asia’s leading technology and innovation investor focused on real asset sectors and the wider built environment, headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Demand Logic

Demand Logic is a building analytics platform delivering energy efficiency and operational insights on commercial portfolios. 

Stak

Spatial data management business for real estate portfolios. Stak uses LiDAR scanners and 360-degree cameras to rapidly capture millions of data points from buildings to generate 2D and 3D plans/models and highly accurate floor area measurement.

Commonplace

Commonplace is a citizen engagement platform that uses rich data gathering to inspire thriving places and facilitate planning success.

Qflow

Qflow is a data platform that captures real-time materials and waste information at the source, enabling project teams to make informed decisions.

REalyse

A leading residential data and analytics platform that leverages AI and a proprietary database on the UK residential market to support real estate professionals with improved decision-making. 

WINT

An intelligent water management system for buildings,  WINT uses smart sensors and machine learning to detect leaks in real time to prevent water damage and reduce waste.

Orbital

Orbital automates and enhances legal property diligence. The AI-driven platform streamlines complex, repetitive, and risk-laden process of real estate work for lawyers and property professionals. 

BrandLab360

BrandLab360 is a Metaverse company that creates immersive experiences allowing brands to engage online with their customers in a way that mirrors physical channels.

Dash Living

Dash Living is a provider of co-living spaces and communities in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Its co-living rental services are designed for urban professionals, typically short stays as a credible alternative for extended hotel stays.

NearSt

NearSt is a retail tech platform that connects live store inventory to Google search and social media platforms, allowing customers to find products in stores near them and allowing brands to gain insight into products that are being searched for locally.


Related content

Group 2