The Perth Proptech Hub, which opened its doors at 110 William Street earlier this year, has been kicking some impressive goals in 2021, and announced this week the creation of its PropTech Investment Council.
General Manager Cullum Ashton (“Ash”) told Startup News that the purpose was to “gather some of the most impressive property people in Perth to see how we can best support the emerging proptech sector; to help them with investment options and to build/retain talent here in WA.”
At a second meeting of the Council this week, the following positions were voted on and accepted:
Chair – Tanya Steinbeck, CEO of UDIA WA
Vice Chair – Sean Adomeit, COO of Openn
Members:
Jeff Leach, Chairman of JJ Leach Group
Cullum Ashton, General Manager of Builderz WA
Cath Hart, Executive Director of HIA WA
Sandra Brewer, Executive Director of Property Council of Australia WA
Neville Pozzi, CEO of Reiwa
Jay Walter, General Manager of JWH Group
Ronnie Michel Elhaj, Managing Director of Niche Living
Charlie Gunningham, Managing Editor of Startup News
Robyn Pillinger, General Manager of Landchoice
Kevin Williams, Managing Director of Core Vision
John Williams, Managing Director of Asset Reports
Adam Campbell, Technical Director of VaultRE
Angella Chick, Executive Manager WA & SA of PEXA
Greg Bader, CEO of Rent
Tom Oosterhof, CEO of Eastcourt Property Group
Jeroen Van De Peppel, Group Director WA, SA & NT of Domain
Daniel Dinelli, General Manager of Move Homes
Philip McVeigh, General Manager of CommBank
The council brings together all the main property advocacy groups (REIWA, Property Council, UDIA and HIA) as well as significant online businesses (PEXA, Rent.com, Domain, reiwa.com, VaultRE, Core Vision) and property businesses (JWH Group, Niche Living, Eastcourt, Move Homes) as well as CommBank, Asset Reports, Landchoice, The Property Tribune and BuilderzWA.
A busy end to the year
Ash held his second annual Perth Home Builders Expo a few months ago, with a doubling of attendance compared to its inaugural year in 2020.
1,437 people went through the doors in 5 hours and the 100 show bags on stand by went in the first 14 minutes.
“Our industry is extremely strong, there are challenges but overall there is a really good story for housing to tell in Western Australia,” said Housing Minister Hon John Carey at the event.
“This expo is another part of this picture, and we want to see more of this and it’s a pleasure to officially open this event”, he said.
Also in September, the Hub played host to the CommBank Proptech Pitch, which saw uDrew being declared winner.
Tom Young and his team at uDrew were awarded a $20,000 prize along with a magnificent crystal trophy.
“Events like these are what the proptech scene in Perth need and I can’t thank PropTech Hub WA enough,” said Tom.
Meanwhile, the Hub has also launched a podcast, ‘The Perth Proptech Radio Show‘, with Ash as co-host together with other property people. They have been attracting 1,000+ listens per show, with it going out live on Sunday afternoon on DRN1 community radio, as well as being available as a podcast on all the normal platforms.
It’s been quite a first year for the Perth Proptech Hub, with more to come: a West Tech Fest event set for Monday 6 December is already sold out, with an end of year Gala Event on Thurs 16 December.
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Disclosure: Author is a voluntary member of the Investment Council