John Helm founded RET Ventures, a leading real estate technology venture capital firm, in 2017. As a partner, he oversees RET’s strategy and investment approach, manages relationships with the firm’s strategic investors, and sits on many RET portfolio company boards, providing them with strategic guidance and oversight. Helm dives into the latest multifamily proptech trends he’s seeing today.
What’s the most significant proptech trend for multifamily for 2025?
Centralization is the new norm in 2025. While interest rate cuts last September brought the industry some relief, continued economic uncertainty and challenges stemming from labor shortages and turbulent capital markets have institutional owners looking for ways to optimize operations and create internal value. This has led to strong demand for technology solutions that offer clear, immediate return on investment (ROI) and that address daily pain points.
Technology that enables multifamily portfolios to centralize and streamline operations has emerged as a must-have for owners navigating our current economic environment. These solutions allow owners and managers to transition certain tasks traditionally performed onsite to regional or national corporate teams—improving operational efficiency, cutting costs, and freeing up time for onsite staff to focus on driving a better resident experience.
By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, centralized solutions enhance every aspect of multifamily property management, from front-end functions like marketing and leasing to back-end processes like maintenance, procurement, and accounting. These systems are also highly scalable, meaning owners can more easily manage new acquisitions and expand their portfolios. Centralization is here to stay, and it is set to be a driving force in proptech for multifamily in 2025 and beyond.
What has surprised you most in the proptech space since RET Ventures’ launch in 2017?
When we launched RET Ventures in partnership with a core group of 20 strategic investors—all of whom were owners and operators of multifamily real estate—we had a simple definition of proptech: essentially, enterprise software (SaaS) that could be deployed by the industry. Since then, and particularly in the 2019 to 2022 timeframe, we saw an explosion of what was considered “proptech,” with the term broadening to include everything from coworking spaces to tech-enabled brokerages.
This expansion of the category contributed to a wave of investment, but it also led to confusion about what truly constitutes proptech. In recent years, as some high-profile companies in the space have struggled, we’ve seen a more cautious approach from investors. Generalist VCs, once heavily involved, have pulled back, and many institutional real estate investors have tightened their focus.
At RET Ventures, our focus has remained consistent: We invest in software or marketplace-driven startups that deliver tangible value to multifamily and rental housing operators. While the landscape of proptech investing may have shifted, the need for innovation in real estate remains as strong as ever. As the market stabilizes, we expect capital to return to the space—particularly for companies with solid fundamentals and long-term viability.
What advice do you have for proptech startups looking to secure venture funding in today’s environment?
In today’s tight funding environment, having a strong product alone isn’t enough. Investors like RET Ventures are looking for startups with strong business models that deliver immediate, clear benefits to customers.
Execution is crucial—especially when serving institutional multifamily owners. Startups need to set realistic goals and consistently deliver on them, proving they can handle the demands of sophisticated, large-scale real estate operators. Beyond execution, tech companies need to implement sustainable business models that will ensure long-term stability. The market has shifted away from easy capital and rapid growth, and investors are prioritizing startups that are capital-efficient and resilient in the face of economic fluctuation.
Adoption barriers are another major consideration. Owners and operators are hesitant to take on technology that requires high upfront costs or disrupts existing workflows. Startups that make implementation seamless and cost-effective are more attractive to both potential customers and investors. Integration into existing workflows is equally important. Real estate operators prefer tools that enhance, rather than overhaul, their current processes, making seamless adoption a major factor in long-term success.
Finally, although it may seem obvious, startups must prove clear and measurable ROI. In a cautious investment climate, technology that directly improves net operating income, reduces costs, or generates new revenue streams stands out. Investors prioritize solutions that offer tangible financial benefits and a strong business case for long-term adoption.
Where do you see AI having the most impact today in the multifamily industry?
AI, and particularly generative AI, has already touched nearly every element of the multifamily management process. It enables property teams to enhance resident communication, optimize resource allocation, solve labor challenges, and reduce the time and effort needed for many routine tasks. Considering this impact, it comes as no surprise that most proptech companies are integrating AI solutions into their platforms in some capacity.
Many of RET Ventures’ portfolio companies are deeply engaged in building AI models that are driving efficiency in multifamily. Lula, a smart property maintenance platform that recently closed a $28 million Series A round, is using its latest funding to further develop its AI-powered work management platform. By streamlining the traditionally labor-intensive maintenance process, Lula’s technology helps tradespeople and property managers complete jobs more efficiently, triage inbound requests, and communicate with residents to more quickly diagnose issues.
AI is also streamlining back-end operations like accounting. PredictAP, a machine-learning enabled invoice ingestion and coding solution for real estate accounts payable, leverages AI and historical invoice data to code new invoices more accurately and efficiently. The results speak for themselves—the platform reduces the time needed to process each invoice by 80% to 90%, significant savings for multifamily owners facing staffing challenges or looking for ways to boost overall productivity.
Another example is data analytics firm Markerr, which utilizes a generative AI dashboard to help real estate investors identify emerging market opportunities, predict future growth, and assess risk factors—ultimately enabling more informed decision-making. Markerr’s AI model is built on a strong foundation of data collected from its user base, allowing it to address industry inefficiencies with a level of sophistication tailored to real estate professionals' daily challenges.
What challenges concern you most regarding AI?
The companies best positioned to deploy AI effectively are those that already have deep industry expertise and access to proprietary datasets, which serve as the foundation for building reliable, high-value AI solutions. Unlike newer entrants that may struggle to access meaningful real estate data, established tech companies can leverage years of customer insights to train AI models that deliver actionable, accurate results.
As AI adoption accelerates, companies that have already integrated machine learning and data analytics into their platforms—such as Markerr and Lula—are naturally evolving to incorporate generative AI in ways that complement their existing solutions. These firms are not just experimenting with AI but are strategically enhancing their platforms to improve operational efficiency, drive informed decision-making, and optimize real estate workflows. In contrast, some AI-first startups without a strong data foundation may find it challenging to build tools that effectively address the most pressing needs of today’s housing market.
The AI race is well underway, but success won’t be determined by who enters the market first. Instead, the winners will be those who combine AI with years of accumulated industry knowledge and high-quality proprietary data—ensuring that AI solutions are not just innovative, but truly transformative for multifamily operations.
What technologies or solutions do you think are currently underfunded or underappreciated in multifamily?
The industry is still just waking up to the opportunities presented by Managed Wi-Fi. For a $600 to $1,200 per unit investment depending on property type, owners can install a complete Managed Wi-Fi network with the potential to generate up to $50 in revenue per month per unit—less than a two-year payback. After installation, this Wi-Fi network can be leveraged for other purposes such as self-touring, IoT and maintenance applications, and enhanced operating efficiency. Deploying this technology takes time and is capital intensive, however, so many owners and operators have not taken the leap.
If considering Managed Wi-Fi, owners should be careful to select a vendor with experience in deploying and managing these networks—it is not enough to simply bring fiber to the property and put an access point in every unit. Owners and operators should vet vendors to ensure they have the necessary experience and, above all, make sure they install redundant fiber or microwave connectivity as lines can be cut and equipment can fail.
While it's a major trend that I believe will shape the industry in the years to come, centralization and the technology that enables it is often misunderstood and is currently underfunded. Leading REITs and large owner-operators were early adopters of centralized operations, and the rest of the industry is slowly making the leap and acknowledging the inevitability of specialized roles and shared services driven by AI and workflow automation.
For example, Funnel and SuiteSpot are two companies that together can help an owner realize significant efficiencies across the entire resident lifecycle, from prospect and leasing to resident management and maintenance. By centralizing leasing operations, owners can realize significant cost synergies. Having one experienced agent work with the same prospect across multiple properties enables cross selling, ultimately improving close rates and creating an optimized and personalized experience for residents.
On the maintenance side, the centralization trend is newer but accelerating, driven by the need to streamline operational processes, leverage the scale of growing asset portfolios, and meet resident expectations for coordinated multichannel (e.g., text, phone, web, app) maintenance requests and status tracking. We see substantial opportunities with more centralized maintenance to use technology to streamline the procurement and management of maintenance spend—one of the largest property-level direct expenses.
What’s next for RET Ventures? Are there any new areas of focus on the horizon?
RET Ventures has been investing in real estate technology for over seven years, earning a strong reputation as an industry-backed VC firm with deep expertise and connections across the real estate space.
It’s no secret that the proptech industry has faced challenges in recent years, but we remain optimistic about its future and committed to driving innovation alongside our strategic investors and portfolio companies. Our priority has always been practical solutions that address distinct industry challenges and that offer enduring, scalable value.
While we do have a focus on solutions for the multifamily and single-family rental spaces, we actively explore technologies that serve the broader real estate industry. In recent years, we’ve paid particular attention to startups streamlining the construction process, as fluctuating costs and capital market uncertainty have heightened demand for efficiency in that space. Technology that leverages historic project and institutional data to address common development pitfalls remains essential for developers looking to complete projects in 2025 and beyond.
As market conditions evolve, we keep a pulse on the industry and will continue to explore potential opportunities for innovation across sectors. Our investment approach, however, will remain unchanged: We collaborate with our strategic investors, identify key pain points, and invest in solutions that deliver real value for real estate operators in the rental housing industry and beyond.
What’s your favorite app?
RET is fortunate to be based in Park City, Utah, so Open Snow is my favorite app for powder days.
