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Automated Architecture (AUAR) named European Final winner of ULI’s PropTech Innovation Challenge 2025
AUAR is a technology company with a platform for automated construction of sustainable and affordable timber frame housing
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe, the world’s largest network of real estate and land-use professionals, has launched ULI Accelerator, a major new programme designed to connect real estate corporations with the innovative solutions offered by high impact PropTech scaleups to drive environmental and social impact.
Following a rigorous selection process and receipt of more than 70 applications, the first cohort of forward thinking, impact focused PropTech startups were selected to participate in the inaugural ULI Accelerator. The cohort of 11 participants was announced at this week’s ULI C Change Summit in Paris, which is part of a ULI-led programme to mobilise the European industry to accelerate the decarbonisation of real estate.
The first cohort includes blocksquare (Slovenia), Cambio AI (USA), Gravity Co. (UK), Mobility46 (Sweden), Optiml (Switzerland), Placemaking AI (UK), Planarific (UK), Symphony Energy (Ireland), Syte (Germany), Vizcab (France) and WasteTracker (Poland).
All start-ups took part in top level presentations to senior real estate decision makers at the PropTech Innovation Exchange held during the C Change Summit.
PIMCO Prime Real Estate has joined the programme as a ULI Accelerator Corporate Partner. The programme is open to additional corporate partners, offering a unique opportunity to stay ahead of regulatory and market change while identifying practical PropTech solutions that drive environmental and social impact.
ULI Accelerator participants will continue to work with senior decision-makers, gain targeted mentorship, and showcase ideas at major ULI Europe events including next year’s ULI Europe Conference (Berlin, 1-3 June 2026), to create meaningful change.
Aimed at encouraging participation from both startups and corporates, the purpose of ULI Accelerator is to address some of the real estate sector’s most urgent challenges, including but not limited to decarbonisation, retrofit, energy resilience, circular construction, biodiversity, affordability, operational efficiency, and others, and identify the innovative solutions needed to help resolve these issues.
Meanwhile, ULI Accelerator will provide opportunities to involve ULI’s 5,500 members in Europe to work with and educate PropTech companies on the needs of the real estate industry and learn from these innovators on what is possible to drive progress. Members will be involved through peer learning, mentorship sessions, workshops on the solutions available and innovation trends shaping the industry.
Lisette van Doorn, CEO, ULI Europe, comments, “Innovation is critical for our industry to thrive, and yet real estate is often seen to be slow, including around addressing significant challenges to improve social and environmental impact. While the number of startups has largely increased, the landscape is hard to navigate for real estate companies due to unclarity around the problem each innovation is trying to solve, applicability across different countries and their financial viability.”
“We are therefore pleased to launch ULI Accelerator, an important programme which will deliver a timely, critical solution for the whole industry, connecting PropTech and real estate to matchmake bespoke low- and high-tech innovation solutions to an organisation’s needs. The aim is to both help startups to grow and scale and improve transparency on available solutions for real estate. Working in true collaboration, ULI Accelerator is designed to unlock collective intelligence and build strong partnerships to help organisations meet their objectives through faster and more successful innovation and digitalisation.”
The ULI Accelerator programme is governed by a Steering Committee, consisting of senior industry leaders from ULI’s membership and includes Valentina Shegoyan (Opreim), Adam Burstow (AWS), Nicolas Bearelle (Revive), Naqash Tahir (PGIM), Christoph Mayr (PIMCO), Juergen Fenk (Deutsche Immobilien Holding), and Simon Abboud (Hines).
ULI is partnering with Eightyseven Group, a leading PropTech network focused on emerging innovation trends in real estate and the most impact-focused PropTech start-ups, on the delivery of the Accelerator programme.
Through a curated process, ULI Accelerator is designed to match the strategic priorities of corporates with proven PropTech solutions. The aim is for participants to:
“Europe’s innovation engine is humming—more than 3,500 PropTech solutions are already reimagining the value chain,” said Sara Pfajfar, ULI Accelerator Lead at ULI Europe. “Our role is to cut through the noise, match problems to solutions, and help teams move from pilot to portfolio.”
Corporates and PropTech firms interested in joining ULI Accelerator or learning more are invited to register their interest here or contact Sara Pfajfar, ULI Accelerator Lead, at [email protected].
For further information, visit https://europe.uli.org/programmes/uli-accelerator/
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For further press information, contact:
Tony Nokling [email protected]
Idriss Goossens [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.
ULI has over 5,500 members in Europe across 15 National Council country networks.
Visit: https://europe.uli.org/uli-accelerator/
ULI Accelerator Cohort 1:
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