To the surprise of some, or perhaps many, Proptech has reportedly attracted the largest number of seed funding rounds in the USD 5 million to USD 10 million range across all industries in 2026. Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence (AI) accounts for a significant portion of these funding rounds.
According to a Crunchbase report published on 31st July, Proptech companies such as Breezy, a Los Angeles-based startup offering an AI operating system for residential property professionals; Grotto AI, a Manhattan-based IT and internet firm providing AI-powered tools for leasing and renewals; and Hint, a Charlotte, N.C. based AI-powered property management platform for property owners, are leading the USD 10 million seed rounds.
So far in 2026, there have been at least 15 Proptech seed rounds in the USD 5 million to USD 10 million range, according to Crunchbase. A report by the Center for Real Estate Technology and Innovation (CRETI) puts 30 deals in this range in the first half of 2026 at a total of USD 207.3 million, accounting for 4.6 per cent of total funding across all rounds.
Stable Funding and the Role of AI
Total Proptech venture funding reached USD 4.53 billion across 231 disclosed funding rounds in the first half of 2026, with a median funding round of USD 6.75 million. Compared to the previous year, the market remained largely stable. Funding in the first half of 2026 decreased by 0.6 per cent compared to the first half of 2025, and increased by 2.6 per cent compared to the first half of 2024, according to CRETI.
Caren Maio, CEO and co-founder of 100, a Manhattan-based platform that helps multifamily operators reduce fraud and friction in leasing, stated that AI has made old problems more expensive to fix and new solutions more credible more quickly, as the underlying technology already exists and has proven itself in adjacent industries. This shift is already underway and is expected to continue into 2026. Her own company saw a USD 5.2 million pre-seed round at the end of 2024, the largest such capital raise in the Proptech sector.
The experienced entrepreneur is not alone in her assessment. Chase Harrington, President and Chief Revenue Officer at property management software firm Entrata, explained that AI has made building new technologies faster and more cost-effective, which explains the increasing number of startups and investments in the Proptech sector. However, he emphasised that real estate operations are highly complex, and operators will only adopt technology if it integrates into their workflows and provides measurable business benefits, be it faster leasing or more efficient teamwork.
Long-term Success Through Deep Industry Understanding
Harrington added that the true test for the new wave of Proptech companies will be whether they understand the industry well enough to solve genuine operational problems and prove their value once implemented in a real portfolio. Despite these concerns, other Proptech experts see many reasons why large seed funding rounds will continue.
Aaron Block, co-founder and managing partner of Manhattan-based early-stage venture capital firm MetaProp, pointed out that the current cycle will see an expansion of seed rounds for Proptech and real estate, which accounts for up to 30 per cent of the global economy depending on the measurement method. He is therefore not surprised that technology for the built world accounts for at least a proportionate share, especially given the current data centre boom.
- —MetaProp tracked seed funding deals from 2022 to 2026.
- —The average value of appraised rounds increased from USD 3.6 million to USD 6.3 million.
- —Over half of this year's rounds were USD 5 million or more, compared to one-third of deals in 2022.
- —This highlights a significant increase in the size of seed financings.
The adoption of AI by companies is significantly contributing to the growth of Proptech seed rounds, agreed Zach Aarons, co-founder and General Partner at MetaProp. He predicted that the category is entering a new era where physical artificial intelligence is changing the way real assets are built and managed. Physical AI requires more capital than pure software companies, which is why seed rounds will be larger, as these types of companies require significant amounts of capital to build physical facilities like factories.
Proptech attracts large seed rounds also because the real estate sector has many unresolved problems, noted Dave Stifter, founder and CEO of PredictAP, a Boston-based AI-powered invoice auditing software specifically designed for real estate. What is special about real estate and Proptech is that at its core, it is a local business. The tools available in the industry have not sufficiently addressed the tailored needs of the real estate industry until now. Now, a tool is available that opens up new possibilities.
