Am I a Proptech?

If you design and deliver technology to the real estate, property or building industry – commercial, residential or both – then the answer is: “Yes”. It will not matter if your company operates in other sectors of the economy. 

Can I enter?

If you are a Proptech as outlined above, then Yes, Absolutely!. These awards are open to all companies in the Proptech sector no matter how big or small. Entry is free to members of the Proptech Association Australia. If you are not yet a member, you can join here. If you do not wish to join, but still wish to enter, you will be asked to pay an entry fee of $350 per entry. 

These awards are not appropriate for third party integrators and consultants or for agencies or businesses that have introduced technology. ie: A major bank could not enter the awards for a mortgage solution that it had created with the help of a scale-up proptech. But the scale-up proptech could enter the award and cite its partnership with the major bank as evidence of its success. Simply put, the Proptech Awards recognise the work of proptechs!

We’re an established proptech business that has launched a new product. Doesn’t this make us a start-up?

Nope! The categories in the Proptech Awards have been designed to compare like with like in terms of business resource and capability. As an established supplier, you should enter new products under the Established Supplier category within the award that best fits the purpose and features of your solution or innovation. You will be judged on the innovation and results you have achieved over the past 12 months.

Can I enter more than once? 

If you have more than one product, you can enter more than once. But if you have just one product, you should enter it only once. 

What this means is that if you are a start-up, it is likely that you have just one product - let’s say it is a rental solution - and that one rental solution is your entire business even if it helps both property managers and tenants.. As such, you’d enter once under the Property & Facilities Award in the category of Start-Up. 

But if you are an Established Supplier, you may have multiple products, each with their own business model. As an example, let’s say one is a sales & marketing solution, one is a back office solution while a third is a direct-to-consumer research site. As such, you could submit three separate entries - one for a Sales & Marketing Award in the Established Supplier category, the second for the Efficiency & Optimisation Award in the Established Supplier category and the third for the Consumer Proptech Award in the Established Supplier category. 

What the guidelines do not permit is that the Start-Up with its rental solution enter three separate awards - ie Property & Facilities Management, Efficiency & Optimisation and Consumer Proptech with the same product and entry in the hope that one of them will be successful. 

Where do I enter?

First, we recommend you download the PDF called “Awards Criteria”. Work out which category and award you wish to enter, and read the criteria thoroughly.

Go to www.proptech.awardsplatform.com You will be asked to register and then you can proceed. We recommend you familiarise yourself with the site in advance of creating your entry.

Please be aware that you’ll be asked to fill in fields for each criteria. If you cut and paste your entry content into these fields using Word or similar software, you will lose the formatting and will have to reinstate it using the platform’s editor.

You can attach files of no more than 5mb. Video cannot be uploaded but you can embed a video link that will take judges to a separate video server, such as YouTube or Vimeo. If you password protect a video, make sure you give judges the access details.

Is there a fee to enter?

There is only an entry fee for non-members of Proptech Association Australia, which is $350. We’d actually love you to become a member and join our community of Aussie proptechs working together to grow the industry and drive the conversation about adopting new tech. Membership is $450 for Start-Ups and Scale-Ups for 12 months from the time you sign up and $900 for Established Suppliers. If you join your colleagues, we’ll waive the fee, no worries!

Why should I join the Proptech Association Australia?

Proptech Association Australia is a community of technology providers who want to drive the conversation about how proptech can help deliver better experiences in how we list, sell, buy, rent, build and manage property. We’re a not-for-profit industry association who believe we need a bigger vision for proptech in Australia and that together, we can grow the market exponentially.

When you join you’ll get: 

• Opportunities to build and promote your business at our real and virtual events including speaking, presentation and pitches
• Connection to the global world of proptech
• Networking and opportunities to collaborate with like-minded technology providers
• Updates on accelerators, scale-up and business growth programs.
• Exclusive member discounts to Proptech Events, including free entry to our Proptech Awards.
• Right to use the Proptech Association logo on your website
• Voting rights at our AGM

Can I meet with someone from the association before I join?

Unfortunately not. The awards are a time of intense workload for our volunteer committee and we cannot meet with every proptech before you make the decision to join the association (as much as we’d love to). We encourage you to read our Membership information and/or attend one of our events (live or virtual) to decide if joining is right for you. All memberships are 12 months from the date of your joining invoice. 

Where do I pay?

If you want to only enter the awards and not join the association, state when you register for the awards that you are a non-member (there’s a checkbox), and we’ll invoice you. Your entry will not be deemed complete until you’ve paid. That cut-off is the close of entry date: March 19, 2021. 

Are there any restrictions on the information I can provide?

Yes. As these are annual awards, you are asked to provide information and details related to operations conducted in the last 12 months. The 12-month date range is March 19, 2021; to March 19, 2022 (the date after which entries close). Do not provide details, such as contract wins or technology upgrades, that occurred before March 19, 2021.  

Will my entry be confidential?    

You can ensure the entry remains “confidential” by marking a checkbox on the awards website when you create your entry. We encourage the sharing of entries so the Proptech community can learn from the best. We believe this contributes to increasing the quality of products and services we provide to our clients and the real estate sector as a whole.

Do I have to cite commercial-in-confidence information?

No. We recommend you provide information that you feel comfortable about being in the public domain. If you wish to cite growth in profit or sales, you might want to use year-on-year percentages, rather than dollar-revenue.

Where do I tell the judges about my company?

You should use the first element of the criteria – “Overview” – to outline details of your company, such as its ownership, leadership and (if relevant) stage of capital raising. You should provide judges with guidance on your company’s size, using staff numbers, the number of offices, or other statistics. Also, use the Overview to explain the target market that your company is addressing. Additional information, such as when the company was established, adds to the general picture.

What’s the best way to explain my technology?

The largest proportion of the marks available focus on your technology but we encourage you not to get too bogged down in the weeds or the technical details. You should provide judges with a plain-English explanation of the technology. It’s a good idea to cite the addressable market for your technology, and the problem(s) that it promises to resolve, or opportunities that it seeks to create. Focus on both the features as well as the benefits to the client. Hard data to support your market research or similar business assertions in your entry will be highly regarded. Avoid or keep to minimum technical documentation, such as schematics or use-cases.

Can I attach additional files to my entry?

Yes. When you go on to our awards website, you will see fields that align with the awards criteria. You should fill these in, as per the instructions. You will have the opportunity to attach files. These might include customer endorsements, independent reviews and case studies. Judges will have limited time to spend on each entry, so focus on information that will have the greatest impact. Maximum file size is 5mb.

Who are the judges?

The judges have been secured from the property, technology, finance and legal sectors, and the broader innovation ecosystem. They understand the dynamics of business and technology. It would be best if you did not assume they will know your company specifically. So, in compiling your entry, ensure each element of the criteria is addressed thoroughly. An independent chairman of judges has been appointed to adjudicate over any issues that may arise.

Do I have to address each element of the criteria?

You should. If you miss one element, a judge will be within their rights to mark that element as zero. The criteria have been designed, in part, to ensure judges treat every entry in the same way.

How does the judging process work?

Once entries close, three judges will be allocated to each award. They will mark separately but then may take part in a phone call during which a winner and “highly commended” entries will be agreed if the judging is very close. This serves to smooth out common challenges, such as potential bias created by “high” and “low” markers.

Can a marketing agency enter on behalf of a client?

If you have your client’s permission to enter, yes, you may submit an entry. Please note however that the entry will not be valid unless the proptech is a financial member of the association and the email used for the submission may also be used for the invoice. As such it would be helpful to drop an email to awards@proptechassociation.com.au once you have entered, letting us know the contact or invoicing details for the proptech (your client) so that we can send them their membership information or check the status of their entry. 

Need any help?

You can email us at awards@proptechassociation.com.au