As proptech investment slowly reawakens, Ashley Stinton said the market looks very different from the growth-at-all-costs era that defined the last cycle.
Stinton, managing partner of U.S. residential at Second Century Ventures (SCV), said deal flow is returning but only for companies that can clearly demonstrate durability, profitability and real-world impact.
“We’ve witnessed a stronger emphasis on sustainable technology with a clear path to profitability,” Stinton told Inman. “Deal volume is slowly returning with a focus on quality over quantity.”
Second Century Ventures is the most active global venture fund focused on real estate technology. Backed by the National Association of Realtors, SCV draws on a worldwide network of owners, operators, developers, brokers and industry leaders to help tech companies scale.
Through its REACH program, SCV supports innovation across the U.S., Australia, Canada, the U.K., Latin America and the Middle East.
Stinton characterized the current proptech moment not as a full recovery, but as a recalibration.
“It’s a welcome recalibration, and we are happy to see investors reward sustainable growth,” Stinton said. “We’ve seen a surge in activity around AI and heavier activity in later-stage rounds. We expect investors to continue to approach proptech cautiously until rates improve and transaction volume rebounds.”
Tools for a low-volume market
With transaction volume still constrained, Stinton said many of the most compelling solutions are those that help brokers and agents operate more effectively in a slower market.
“There’s still considerable pressure on transaction volume,” she said. “So lead generation and qualification are still quite prevalent.”
Beyond lead tools, Stinton pointed to a growing emphasis on consumer experience and technology that connects historically fragmented workflows, a long-standing challenge in real estate.
Stinton also said that Second Century Ventures is continuing to invest in technologies that help real estate professionals deliver higher-quality service while improving trust and efficiency in transactions.
That includes tools such as QwikFix and Earnnest; tools that support brokers’ businesses, such as Courted and Purlin; and solutions like Tongo that empower real estate professionals to manage cash flows and invest in growth.
“We also continue to invest heavily in technologies that help consumers unlock access to homeownership, including solutions like Foyer that help aspiring homeowners save faster for their first home, and Stake, which offers a suite of cash back and credit building options for renters,” Stinton said.
A framework for evaluating AI in proptech
Artificial intelligence dominates an increasing number of proptech pitches today, so Stinton says separating meaningful innovation from hype has become one of the most critical parts of her role.
“The pace of development can make it difficult to separate innovation from hype,” she told Inman. “But key fundamentals help us decipher what will have an enduring impact.”
Her evaluation framework starts with some key questions: What problem does the technology actually solve? Is it addressing an immediate pain point or offering clear long-term value? And how much capital is required to build and deploy it?
Stinton also cautions against over engineering, a common trap for AI startups racing to add features or to let early customers dictate product direction.
“There’s a tendency to build one more feature, and maybe one more after that,” she said. “We focus on striking a balance between cutting-edge innovation and delivering meaningful results to real-world problems.”
Beyond residential
While much of the attention remains on residential real estate, Stinton said Second Century Ventures is also actively investing in construction and built-world technologies through REACH Commercial and its global portfolio.
Those investments span acquisition, permitting, workflow automation, robotics and modular housing. These are areas Stinton sees as critical to addressing supply constraints and long-term housing challenges.
From Stinton’s vantage point, today’s proptech environment may be slower, but it’s also healthier. Founders are being pushed to prove durability earlier, investors are prioritizing sustainable economics and technology is being judged by its ability to deliver tangible outcomes rather than ambitious narratives.
SCV deepens Middle East push
In other Second Century Venture news, the investment arm of NAR announced on Tuesday a strategic partnership with Advanced Real Estate Services (ADRES), the technology arm driving real estate transformation across Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, ADGM, and other UAE partners. Through its REACH program, SCV will serve as an innovation partner in one of the world’s fastest-growing real estate markets.
The partnership follows the launch of the inaugural REACH Middle East cohort, a group of high-growth regional companies selected to accelerate innovation across the real estate value chain.
Together, the alliance with ADRES and the debut cohort significantly expand SCV’s footprint in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as the region advances more than $3 trillion in giga-projects and large-scale urban development.
