Brigade REAP to Focus on Technology Innovations in the Real Estate Sector

Brigade Group, one of India’s leading real estate developers has announced the launch of its latest initiative – Brigade Real Estate Accelerator Program (REAP). A brainchild of Nirupa Shankar, Director, Brigade Hospitality and daughter of Brigade Group’s Chairman Mr. M. R. Jaishankar, Brigade REAP is the first initiative of its kind in India, set up with the aim to give innovators and inventors in India, in sectors relevant to real estate, an organized approach to help build sustainable and scalable businesses.

The real estate sector is one of the most globally recognised sectors contributing a significant number of jobs and GDP growth. In India, real estate and allied industries is the second largest employer after agriculture and is slated to grow at 30 per cent over the next decade.

A report by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) says that the Indian real estate market is expected to touch US$ 180 billion by 2020. The housing sector alone contributes 5-6% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Retail, hospitality and commercial real estate are also growing significantly, providing the much-needed infrastructure for India’s growing needs.

Speaking on the subject, Mr. M. R. Jaishankar, Chairman and Managing Director, Brigade Group, said, “To keep pace with the ever changing needs of the business it is imperative to accelerate the pace of adoption of innovation and disruptive technologies in the industry. Brigade REAP has been conceptualised to combine resources within the group, as well as with partners and well-wishers to add value to young companies and help them build innovative and path-breaking companies from India.”

A vastly untapped and isolated range of work lies in sectors such as (IoT), Big Data, VR/AR, Nanotechnology, Cleantech & renewable technology, Visual Computing, Supply Chain & logistics. The Brigade REAP has focus on these sectors in partnership with industry leaders to create a structured program that, mentors a pool of high quality tech focused start-ups adding value to the real estate industry at large.

The strength of REAP lies in its straight-forward approach to streamlining the business potential of an innovation, with on-ground challenges and realities. Its mentor list includes a veritable who’s who from the corporate, start-up and investment.

Speaking on the launch of Brigade REAP, Nirupa Shankar said, “The purpose of this program is to help bring about exponential operating efficiencies not only to our business but the industry at large. The accelerator will give young companies access to deep domain knowledge in the real estate sector and the focus to solve real, on-ground issues that plague the industry.”

Speaking on the program construct, Apul Nahata, Mentor-in-Residence, Brigade REAP said, “The objective of the program is to help young companies scale in size and market their product/service in a more effective manner. We have been able to get Industry leaders from across sectors and disciplines including from within the Brigade group to spare their valuable time in helping these young companies succeed.”

Speaking on the objective of Brigade REAP, John Kuruvilla, Chief Mentor, Brigade REAP said, “ at REAP we work on ensuring that innovative ideas are not lost in execution and find the perfect application in the real estate industry”. (Read full report)