The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) will kick off its first ever #REBNYTech Hackathon, hosted by its newly formed REBNYTech Committee, on Friday, October 13 through Sunday, October 15, 2017 at the Urban Tech Hub at Grand Central Tech at 335 Madison Avenue.
Over thee three days during NYC Real Estate Tech Week 2017, the hackathon event will bring together 200 of the brightest minds in the property and technology industries to hack cutting edge solutions to real-world challenges faced by the world’s leading real estate companies.
In addition to the competition, the #REBNYTech Hackathon will feature speakers from across PropTech and real estate.
Eligible applicants may participate either as part of a team of up to five people, or on an individual basis. Teams will work across six challenge categories — AEC and Development, Brokerage, Cybersecurity, Geospatial Intelligence, Sustainable Maintenence and Operations, and Open Hack — to compete for a total of $75,000 in cash and prizes.
Entries will be judged based on originality/creativity, innovation, analytical skills, strategic thinking, and practical implementation. The entry that earns the highest overall score in each of the six categories will win the #REBNYTech Hackathon challenge for that category, receive a $2,500 prize, and qualify for the three month Gauntlet Challenge.
During the following three months, the six winners will be given free office space and allowed to refine their existing REBNYTech Hackathon Entries to meet at least one of the provided real-world challenges faced by real estate companies and compete for the $35,000 Gauntlet Challenge prize to implement their solution.
“We invite all professionals interested in the many opportunities that lie in PropTech innovation for the real estate sector, to participate in the competition and hear from real estate and technology leaders,” said John Banks, REBNY President.
“This event, made possible through the support of our REBNYTech Committee, will provide a platform for our members to connect with innovative Hackathon participants and come early 2018, our members may have new, functional PropTech solutions to some of the most common problems observed in the real estate industry.”
“Building owners and managers are building new technology tools to improve efficiency across all levels of property management,” said John J. Gilbert III, Rudin Management’s COO and REBNYTech Committee Co-Chair. “The Hackathon will broaden REBNY members’ access to the tech talent needed to create these tools and help them to identify cutting edge ideas for investment.”
“The Hackathon continues the commitment of REBNY and its members to New York City’s growth and competitiveness,” said Winston Fisher, Fisher Brothers Partner and REBNYTech Committee Co-Chair. “In addition to solving real estate industry needs, we’re building a pipeline that will connect highly skilled minds with innovative jobs within the industry.”
Earlier this year, REBNY launched the REBNYTech Committee, whose mission is to ensure that New York City remains the leading edge of the global PropTech ecosystem. By gathering leading investors, executives, and principals within REBNY membership on the premise of pursuing PropTech together, the REBNYTech Committee was established to create a pipeline that will help solve the industry’s largest needs through innovation and collaboration.
The REBNY Tech Committee is chaired by Rudin Management Company and Fisher Brothers, with additional founding members from: Blackstone, Douglas Elliman, LeFrak, Millennium Properties, Milstein Properties, Newmark Knight Frank, Pan Am Equities, Related Companies, RoseTech Ventures, Sidewalk Labs, Silver Mountain Investors, Silverstein Properties, Sterling Equities, and Warburg Realty.
The existing committee includes leaders of five PropTech incubators and accelerator programs, and will soon be a one-stop-shop for new PropTech companies seeking feedback, funding, pilot sites, and access to the REBNY membership.
The #REBNYTech Hackathon prize sponsors include: Fisher Brothers, Gust, Knotel, Newmark Knight Frank, Related Companies, Rudin Management Company, and Silverstein Properties.
Among the #REBNYTech Hackathon speakers are leaders from: DLA Piper, Knotel, Lōtik Labs, Newmark Knight Frank, Radiator Labs, Related Companies, Rudin Management Company, Sentient Buildings, Thornton Tomasetti’s CORE Studio, and |TOTEM|.
Additionally, REBNY has partnered with 24 of the City’s leading universities, organizations, and institutions to broadcast this opportunity to over 60,000 tech-minded New Yorkers.
Those interested in participating in the #REBNYTech Hackathon should visit www.rebnytechhack.splashthat.com to learn more and view the event schedule.
#REBNYTech Hackathon partners include: AEC Hackathon, the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, City University of New York (CUNY), CUNY Institute for Urban Systems, Civic Hall, Coalition for Queens (C4Q), Columbia University, NYC Foundation for Computer Science Education (CSNYC), Thornton Tomasetti’s R&S incubator CORE Studio, cre.tech, Digital.NYC, the Urban Tech Hub at Grand Central Tech, Gust, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, MetaPropNYC, MIPIM PropTech Summit, NY Tech Alliance, New York University (NYC), NYU Center for Urban Science + Progress, RICS, Silicon Harlem, Tech:NYC, and |TOTEM|.
