Half of all real-estate technology firms in Canada were founded in the past five years, according to a report by the Proptech Collective, a non-profit group that tracks the industry. More than 70 per cent of firms are early stage, having raised angel, pre-seed or seed funding. (The Logic)

Talking point: Deal-making within the relatively young sector ramped up during the pandemic, with round sizes jumping substantially, according to PitchBook. There were 36 deals worth a total US$471 million in Canada last year, compared to 29 deals worth about US$77 million combined in 2020. So far this year, there have been 18 deals worth about US$60 million. Companies focused on improving the home purchasing experience were particularly hot. Home auction platform Unreserved raised about US$34 million in 2021 and 2022 and digital mortgage platform Pine brought in nearly US$21 million. Canadian proptech firms have started attracting large U.S. investors like Tiger Global and Bain Capital and becoming targets of U.S. acquirers, noted the Proptech report, with the three largest M&A transactions worth $1.5 billion.