Breakout: PropTech Pioneers - Building and Investing in Innovation
12:00-12:50pm Aldrich Room 112
This panel brings together experts in the intersection of Venture Capital, Startups and Real Estate in the Property Technology Space to share their insights, trends and emerging real estate and construction technologies that are attracting venture capital and the challenges and opportunities start-ups face in scaling their businesses.
Sponsored by:
Panelists:
Nikolai Yinger
Co-founder | Altitude
Altitude Connects innovative ideas, influential funding, and impeccable execution to help create some of today's most exciting startups.
Dave Eisenberg
Founding Partner | Zigg Capital
Dave Eisenberg is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur who is currently a managing director at Zigg Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups in the real estate, construction and retail industries. Prior to founding Zigg Capital, Eisenberg was the CEO and co-founder of Floored, a technology company that was acquired by CBRE in 2017.
Before Floored, Eisenberg was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Accel Partners and an early employee of several other startups including Bonobos and TellApart. He started his career as a consultant for Bain & Company and has a B.A. from Harvard.
Hasier Larrea
Founder | Ori Living
Hasier Larrea is an award-winning engineer, designer, and entrepreneur. Larrea founded Ori, Inc. in 2015.
Ori is a robotics and real estate company backed by IKEA and Google, aimed at empowering people to live large in a smaller footprint. Ori's expandable apartments are featured in +30 cities in North America with some of the nation's leading real estate developers.
Before Ori, Hasier led the Architectural Robotics research area at the MIT Media Lab, which focuses on creating a new generation of hyper-efficient and responsive urban spaces by combining the disciplines of Architecture and Engineering. In 2017, Larrea was included in the Manufacturing & Industry category of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. Larrea holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Navarra, Spain and a Master’s in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT.
Ben Pleat
CEO and Co-Founder | Cobu
Ben Pleat is CEO and Co-Founder of Cobu, the leading community building platform built for multifamily real estate. Cobu helps multifamily owners like Bozzuto, Greystar, Urby, and RXR to increase occupancy, retention, and NOI by driving stronger community engagement. Cobu’s portfolio spans over 100,000 apartment homes in over 85 cities and 37 US states. Cobu’s mission is to empower everyone to feel like they belong wherever they live and Ben’s passion is to combat the loneliness epidemic in the US and globally.
Prior to leading Cobu, Ben was Co-Founder at TAVtech, a data science and cybersecurity bootcamp in Tel Aviv for top students from all over the world. Previously, Ben explored the nexus of real estate and technology while with companies like Goldman Sachs, WeWork, and Israel Cleantech Ventures. Ben serves as an Advisory Board Member at Harvard Ventures and has been a Contributor at the Forbes Real Estate Council. Ben holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University and resides in Boston with his wife.
Bing Wang - Moderator
Associate Professor in Practice | Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Dr. Bing Wang is the Associate Professor in Practice of Real Estate and the Built Environment at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. She is a faculty co-chair for the Real Estate Management: Design, Finance and Leadership program, a joint Executive Education program between the Harvard GSD and Harvard Business School, and a faculty co-chair for Advanced Real Estate Development program, the GSD’s advanced education for senior real estate executives. She has been a visiting faculty member at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and lectures frequently at top-tier universities worldwide, including Tsinghua University in China and University of Ulster in the UK. She was the Area Head of the MDes Real Estate and the Built Environment concentration from 2010 to 2020.