US NAR invests in blockchain real estate startup Propy

The U.S. National Association of Realtors (NAR)’s venture capital arm Secondary Century Ventures has invested in blockchain-based real estate startup Propy, CoinDesk reported.

The Secondary Century Ventures has reportedly bought an undisclosed stake in the end-to-end real estate transaction management platform through its REACH accelerator program.

Welcome CEO @NataliePropy & the @PropyInc team to the REACH Accelerator class of 2019! Learn more about all eight outstanding companies in this year's class at https://t.co/rKNcGtUpxi.
— NAR REACH (@narREach) June 10, 2019

The terms of the investments were not disclosed. However, the new deal will connect Propy, which utilizes Ethereum blockchain to stream home-buying, into the NAR’s network of 1.3 million real estate agents and participate at key industry events, according to Forbes.

Launched in 2017, Propy, which claims to be the first real estate firm to take blockchain tech globally, aims to use smart contracts to achieve faster, safer, and transparent real estate transactions. With the aim to digitize the real estate sector, it strives to automate purchase paperwork, wire payments and title records, streamline the procedure, and offer secure database storage.

We’re excited to be a part of @narREach and work with outstanding tech experts and the 2019 cohort. Special thanks to Dave Garland, @jeffturner, @tcar, @conroydave, @melaniewyne, @ElieFinegold and especially @alstinton!
— Natalia Karayaneva (@NataliePropy) June 11, 2019

“You cannot buy real estate online as you do with books on Amazon. The reason for that is the lack of tools for online macro payments and online ownership transfer for high-value assets. Propy built both,” Natalia Karayaneva, Propy CEO, told Forbes.

There appears to be fast progress on the use of blockchain tech in the real estate industry. Just recently, the Dubai Land Department and Emirati’s Etisalat inked a Memorandum of Understanding on real estate blockchain technology, which aims to implement smart government standards, introduce paperless management and digital contracts, and launch blockchain strategy using the DLD’s Ejari application.