New Delhi : JLL, leading real estate and property investment management consultants and Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation agency, under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, jointly announced the launch of JLL IDEAs today. JLL IDEAs is a collaboration between JLL and the initiatives housed at Invest India, – Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations (AGNIi) and Startup India. AGNIi is the national technology commercialization programme, from the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Govt. of India and Startup India is the government’s flagship initiative to boost the startup ecosystem in the country.

JLL IDEAs is India’s biggest real estate proptech accelerator that will promote startups working on cutting edge, disruptive technologies and solutions impacting developers, investors and occupier clients in the country. The programme will run multiple proptech hackathons and innovation challenges to select the best startups in real estate and aims to create India’s biggest platform for convergence of technology in real estate sector.

Winners of this hackathon will receive awards including potential funding opportunities through JLL Spark, mentorship from real estate leaders, incubation opportunities and client meetings to test and pilot their solutions in a real world environment. With US$100mn of investment fund, JLL Spark is focused on creating new products, investments and supporting startups in the real estate tech industry.

Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India said, “It is AGNIi’s constant endeavour to support the ongoing efforts to boost the innovation ecosystem in the country. Through this collaboration with Startup India & JLL, we aim to connect innovators across industries, and help commercialise their technology and solutions for the larger good of the real estate sector in India. We are delighted to collaborate with a global organisations such as JLL on this initiative. JLL IDEAs will create a platform for innovators with use case in Real Estate so that the expertise and solutions can be infused into the market.. This partnership will help discover promising startups with sustainable and innovative solutions that can transform this sector.”

“India is now the 2^nd largest startup ecosystem in the world. With a clear focus to promote innovation in the country, it is the right time for industry to come forward and be a part of the New India story” added Deepak Bagla, MD & CEO, Invest India.

Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head, JLL India said, “The proptech space offers limitless opportunities in India and is the single biggest lever to benefit millions of consumers, end users and occupiers alike. This JLL initiative will bring together the industry to better understand how to utilise the latest innovations to better service our clients whilst advancing the sectors in which we work.”

“We look forward to working closely with our partners. AGNIi and Start up India, initiatives of the Government of India, which work with numerous innovators and startups across the country , thus ensuring that the most pioneering solutions are adopted in the country to further support its proposition as a world leading business hub and investment powerhouse,” Nair added.

The programme is targeted at early stage startups and individuals, with a clearly defined solution, product or a technology impacting real estate scenarios like asset valuation, smart buildings, employee experience, sustainability and a lot more working with technologies like Blockchain, AI, Machine Learning, IOT etc. with an objective to empower investors and tenants, drive efficiencies, increase profitability and enhance safety and trust.

Applications for the hackathon are invited, starting from 23rd August onwards. The winners from this hackathon will be further invited for a proptech open innovation challenge, which will also serve as a thought leadership platform for RE & Tech leaders to engage in meaningful conversations. Top investors, VCs, developers and occupiers will act as mentors and the jury for this challenge.