"Why having an ecosystem is better than going it alone"

Drees & Sommer established the CREATORS platform to help realizeb business ideas, develop partnerships, accelerate innovation and instil companies with a start-up mentality that can serve them in the long term. Depending on what stage they are at, it will offer start-ups, companies and talented people a bespoke approach to develop futureready and goal-orientated ideas. To facilitate this, the platform provides unlimited room for creativity, backed by more than 50 years of sector-specific experience. In this interview, Michael Aechtler, Head of innovation services at Drees & Sommer, explains how the platform will help accelerate digitization in the real estate industry.

What was the mo­ti­va­tion for set­ting up CRE­ATORS?

Michael Aechtler: The conviction that  genuine,  scalable innovations can only exist through the exchange of information. And so the purpose behind CREATORS and its component parts is to create a thriving ecosystem in the construction and real estate sector that is populated with start-ups, big corporates, experienced medium-sized firms, venture capital firms and other investors, universities and other experts and creative thinkers from other industries.

When did you start it?

M. A.: CREATORS went live last autumn. We launched our Creators Match tool, which matches corporates and start-ups in a targeted way, at the last Expo Real in October 2019. Prior to that, we used a similar tool called “Start it up!”, which was only used for matchmaking internally. However, staying true to the ethos of our ecosystem, Creators Match was opened up to companies seeking partners. We connect strategically-focused and use case-minded corporates and start-ups. Our ambition and focus are to show corporates that there are many innovative players that have innovative solutions to offer across the whole value chain. We regard ourselves as enablers who help bring collaborations into being. There has already been a good uptake, with around 110 registered users. We then use a link to a start-up database to enable companies to find suitable start-ups.

Could you give an ex­am­ple of how this works in prac­tice?

M. A.: Let’s imagine that a company in the IoT/Smart Building space is looking for a technology partner. The matching algorithm on CREATORS can find suitable PropTechs to help with the concrete, real-world application they have in mind. Finding a match is the perfect place to start. However, it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our innovation services. If things go ahead, we can then step in with more tools, our ecosystem and our expertise to help establish and manage collaborations.

Does match­ing use set cat­e­gories or can it be cus­tomized on a case-by-case basis?

M. A.: During the registration process, users are asked about relevant technologies and the phases of the property life cycle. These “matching points” provide the basis for automated match suggestions that are tailored to the user’s profile. As well as choosing from a range of existing categories, users can also refine their search using individual tags.

Can sev­eral PropTechs show up as pos­si­ble matches?

M. A.: It is definitely possible. The tool is  set up like a dating platform where you can scroll through a list of all matching start-ups and find out more about them. If you find a company you’re interested in, a match can be made on the spot.

Will there be part­ner­ships be­tween com­pa­nies and start-ups?

M. A.: That’s always the plan and there are lots of different forms that the partnership can take, ranging from stake-holding, franchising, cooperation on specific projects and lots of other options. We have extensive knowledge and expertise gained through our own projects that we are very glad to share with our partners and clients.

In your ex­pe­ri­ence, are cor­po­rate users at an early stage of dig­i­ti­za­tion or have they made some progress?

Nathanie Ursinus-Vasiliadis: We’re seeing companies addressing the issue of digitization and being increasingly open to the idea of working with start-ups. However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement in this area. There’s a lot of uncertainty about finding suitable start-ups, setting up a collaboration, creating new business models and more. We have a lot of experience in this area and can therefore support them with our knowledge and expertise and our ecosystem. Having an ecosystem beats going solo – that’s been our philosophy ever since the launch of CREATORS.

What ben­e­fit will Drees & Som­mer get out of hav­ing an in­no­va­tion plat­form like this?

N. U.-V.: We are always looking for exciting start-ups and partners and are keen to grow our contacts in the innovation ecosystem. We champion the idea of an open, thriving ecosystem and cross-sector collaboration. For example, a start-up specializing in AI that had previously created solutions in other sectors could quickly develop and scale solutions for the construction industry. At Drees & Sommer, we want to drive innovation and be able to offer our clients the best possible solutions.