The real estate and tech industries’ finest minds assembled for the first virtual edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit 2020, which aired exclusively today via Zipeventapp.com and partner channels.

Also known as the tech and thought leadership platform of PropertyGuru, this year’s summit hosted a stellar line-up of 27 experts to expound on the timely topics of sustainability, green technology, and the “new economy” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Featuring representatives of global institutions and multinational brands as well as vanguards of sustainability, the event formally known as PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit 2020: Virtual Edition (ARES 2020) ascribed this year to the theme of “Spirit of Innovation”.

Manav Kamboj, chief technology officer of PropertyGuru Group, said: “Technology is enabling businesses to act more responsibly towards building a sustainable future. The increasing amount of data and insight is allowing us to make better choices; in managing our customer’s data, in sourcing of raw materials, in design, product delivery and beyond.”

The day long online broadcast opened with Jules Kay, managing director of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards & Events, outlining the sustainability plan for future editions of the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit and the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards in the next five years. This year marks the sixth edition of the summit.

The summit culminated with the presentation of the coveted honours of the PropertyGuru Tech Innovation Award and the all-new PropertyGuru Visionary of the Year Award. The awards serve to recognise innovative start-ups as well as game-changing individuals that have contributed to building an ecosystem that takes the real estate industry forward.

Rizome won the PropertyGuru Tech Innovation Award for its impressive use of engineered bamboo lumber as the primary material in construction. Troy Carter, co-founder of Rizome, earlier presented a case study on the material as well as the company’s ambitious carbon sequestration goals.

The recipient of the PropertyGuru Tech Innovation Award was chosen by a panel of experts that consisted of Manav Kamboj; Steve Melhuish, Angel Investor, VC Partner/Co-Founder, PropertyGuru Group; Jittida Haputpong, Vice President, Business Development, Igloohome; Matthias Gelber, Director of Sustainability, Global Sustainability Exchange; Nick Myers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, RedFox AI; Petra Bührer, Global Sales Leader, IBM/Chair(woman), IBM Technical Expert Council in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (Dach); and Stephen Oehme, Value Management Specialist & Sustainability Advocate/Managing Director, Quantum Thailand Ltd.

We would like to thank the following:
- Official Sponsor: Hitachi Elevators and Escalators
- Official Portal Partners: PropertyGuru.com, DDproperty.com, Rumah.com and Batdongsan.com.vn
- Official Innovation Partner: PropertyGuru FastKey
- Official Magazine: PropertyGuru Property Report
- Official PR Partner: Artemis Associates
- Media Partners: APAC CIO Outlook, Asia PropTech, CMO Asia, Future Trends, Inquirer.net, Jumpstart, Locanation, PrropertyInvestSG, and Techsauce
- Official ESG Partner: Baan Dek Foundation
- Official Charity Partner: Right To Play Thailand
- Supporting Association: Austrian PropTech Initiative, Green Building Consulting & Engineering and GSX Global Sustainability Exchange