Based in New York City, New York, USA

Founder and CEO of Compass — the largest residential real estate brokerage in the United States by sales volume, publicly traded on the NYSE — and the most consequential PropTech founder operating at the intersection of technology and residential brokerage. Founded in 2012 alongside Ori Allon, Compass grew from a startup to America's largest brokerage by volume in just over a decade, raising over $2 billion in venture capital and fundamentally reshaping what a technology-enabled brokerage looks like. Author of No One Succeeds Alone, a memoir of growing up as the son of a drug-addicted mother and finding his way to Goldman Sachs and ultimately entrepreneurship. Throughout 2025-2026, Reffkin's continued leadership of Compass through its push for profitability, his vocal opposition to the NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy, his quarterly earnings calls, and his active public presence continued to make him the most visible and most discussed CEO in residential PropTech.

Based in Los Angeles, California, USA

Co-founder of Zillow — which he led as CEO for a decade, transforming it into the defining residential real estate marketplace in the US with a $10 billion market capitalisation — co-founder of Pacaso (fractional second-home ownership), Hotwire, dot.LA, and 75 & Sunny Ventures, Harvard professor of entrepreneurship, and currently CEO of Match Group. Though Rascoff's current executive focus sits outside PropTech, his founding legacy at Zillow — which fundamentally changed how Americans search for, value, and think about property — and at Pacaso, which pioneered a new model of second-home co-ownership, makes him one of the most consequential PropTech founders of the past two decades. His book Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate (co-authored with Stan Humphries) remains one of the most widely read books on how data is transforming real estate.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Co-founder and CEO of VTS — the commercial real estate leasing and asset management platform that has become the operating system for leasing teams at the world's largest landlords and brokerages, with over $60 billion in assets managed on the platform — and the most important founder in commercial real estate technology. Throughout 2025-2026, VTS's continued growth, its AI-powered leasing intelligence tools, and Romito's public voice on what the future of commercial real estate operations looks like as AI transforms the asset management and leasing workflow continued to make him the most credible and widely followed voice in CRE technology. His platform's adoption by institutional landlords managing hundreds of millions of square feet of office, retail, and industrial property makes it genuine infrastructure for the commercial real estate industry.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

CEO of CREtech — the largest commercial real estate technology event, content, and consulting platform in the world — and the most important connector, commentator, and community builder in the global PropTech ecosystem. Throughout 2025-2026, CREtech's conferences, content, and market intelligence continued to make Beckerman the most widely cited and most connected voice in commercial PropTech — someone who has spoken with virtually every founder, investor, and operator shaping the future of commercial real estate technology. His role as the sector's most active networker and most trusted event platform gives his perspective on PropTech trends a breadth and currency that no single operator or investor can match.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Founder and CEO of Cadre — the technology-enabled real estate investment platform that democratised access to institutional-quality real estate deals for individual accredited investors — and one of the most personally compelling founders in PropTech, having grown up in Baton Rouge and become one of the youngest Black founders to build a unicorn-valued company. Throughout 2025-2026, Williams's continued leadership of Cadre and his public voice on real estate investment democratisation, diversity in finance, and what the next generation of real estate investment platforms looks like continued to make him one of the most admired and widely followed founders in the broader PropTech and real estate investment space. His background and trajectory make him one of the most important voices on what inclusive access to real estate wealth building actually requires.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Founder and CEO of Bilt Rewards — the company that created the first rewards programme for rent payments, now processing over $5 billion in annualised rent and operating the Bilt Mastercard in partnership with Wells Fargo, earning rewards on rent through a product that major credit card networks said was impossible — and one of the most creative and practically impactful PropTech founders of the past decade. Throughout 2025-2026, Bilt's continued growth, its expansion into neighbourhood loyalty and real estate purchasing programmes, and Jain's public voice on the future of the renter-to-owner journey continued to make him one of the most innovative and widely discussed founders in residential PropTech. His insight — that rent is the largest monthly expense in most people's budgets and yet earns nothing — and his execution in solving it is one of the most elegant founder-market fits in recent PropTech history.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Managing Partner of ERA Ventures — the early-stage PropTech venture fund — former President of Warburg Realty, Strategic Advisor to Bain Capital Ventures, and the most trusted and analytically rigorous voice on PropTech investment and strategy from the perspective of someone who has operated on both sides of the founder-investor relationship. Throughout 2025-2026, Peters's public writing, conference appearances, and investment activity through ERA Ventures continued to make her the most credible and widely followed PropTech investor voice for founders and operators trying to understand where capital is flowing and why in the current market. Her combination of operating experience at a major New York brokerage and venture investing experience makes her perspective unusually complete.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Co-founder of Common — the co-living company that pioneered professionally managed, furnished, community-oriented rental housing at scale in US cities — founder of General Assembly (the tech education company acquired by Adecco for $413 million), and one of the most original thinkers in residential PropTech on the question of what urban renters actually want versus what the traditional rental market offers. Throughout 2025-2026, Hargreaves's active writing on Substack on housing policy, urban development, and the future of rental housing continued to make him one of the most intellectually engaging and practically informed voices in the PropTech and housing policy space. His combination of having built two genuinely innovative companies and his willingness to engage with housing as a political and social question as well as a business opportunity makes him unusually valuable.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Co-founder and General Partner at MetaProp — the most prolific and most respected PropTech-focused venture capital firm in the world, with a portfolio spanning hundreds of PropTech investments across residential, commercial, and construction technology — and the most widely connected PropTech investor voice globally. Throughout 2025-2026, Aarons's continued investment activity, his public commentary on PropTech market conditions, AI in real estate, and what the next generation of PropTech infrastructure looks like continued to make him the most informed and most widely quoted PropTech investor voice available to founders, operators, and media covering the sector. MetaProp's position at the intersection of virtually every important PropTech trend makes his perspective the closest available to a complete map of the space.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Founder and CEO of Better.com — the digital mortgage lender that raised over $900 million and reached a $6+ billion valuation at its peak, and which went public via SPAC — and one of the most controversial and high-profile figures in PropTech, whose Zoom layoff of 900 employees in December 2021 became one of the most widely discussed management failures in recent startup history. Throughout 2025-2026, Better.com's continued operation and Garg's ongoing public profile continued to make him one of the most discussed figures in digital mortgage and PropTech — someone whose story, whatever one thinks of it, captures most of the important dynamics of PropTech's boom-and-correction cycle. His willingness to continue building and speaking publicly in the face of significant criticism demonstrates a resilience that is genuinely noteworthy.

Based in Seattle, Washington, USA

Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Zillow — which he co-founded in 2006 alongside Spencer Rascoff and others after founding Expedia, Glassdoor, and Housefire — and one of the most prolific and most successful serial founders in consumer internet history, with a particular focus on transparency-enabling marketplaces. As the architect of Zillow's founding vision — that the Zestimate and online property valuations would give consumers the information power that had previously been held exclusively by agents and brokers — Barton fundamentally changed the information landscape in residential real estate. Throughout 2025-2026, Barton's advisory and board activity and his public voice on consumer internet and marketplace businesses continued to make him one of the most respected and widely followed serial entrepreneurs in tech, with Zillow's lasting impact on residential real estate his most consequential legacy.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Co-founder and former CEO of Opendoor — the iBuying company that pioneered the instant cash offer for residential homes, fundamentally disrupting the traditional home-selling process and raising over $1.9 billion to build the largest single-family iBuyer in the US — and one of the most consequential and most debated PropTech founders of the past decade. Throughout 2025-2026, Wu's continued advisory work, investment activity, and public presence in the PropTech ecosystem continued to make him one of the most closely watched figures in the sector — someone whose Opendoor experiment, whatever its ultimate financial trajectory, permanently changed how consumers and real estate professionals think about what home-selling can look like when technology is applied seriously. His founding of Opendoor is one of the most ambitious bets in PropTech history.

Based in Bellingham, Washington, USA

Founder and CEO of eXp World Holdings — the parent company of eXp Realty, the most rapidly growing real estate brokerage in the world, operating as a fully virtual cloud-based brokerage that has grown to over 80,000 agents across 20+ countries — and one of the most genuinely innovative thinkers in residential real estate on what the agent-brokerage relationship can look like when physical infrastructure is replaced by technology infrastructure. Throughout 2025-2026, eXp's continued global expansion, its virtual world headquarters technology, and Sanford's public voice on the future of agent-first real estate continued to make him one of the most widely followed and most consequential figures in residential PropTech. His revenue-sharing model and virtual-first approach have forced traditional brokerages to rethink their value propositions.

Based in Napa, California, USA

Co-founder and CEO of Pacaso — the fractional second-home ownership platform co-founded with Spencer Rascoff in 2020 that became a unicorn faster than any company in history — and previously founder of dotloop, the real estate transaction management platform acquired by Zillow for $108 million. Throughout 2025-2026, Pacaso's continued operation and Allison's public voice on fractional ownership, the future of second-home markets, and what technology-enabled co-ownership requires continued to make him one of the most innovative and most discussed figures in residential PropTech. Having founded two companies that were acquired or reached unicorn status, and having done so in real estate technology specifically, makes him one of the most practically accomplished PropTech founders working today.

Based in Los Angeles, California, USA

Co-founder and Managing Partner at Fifth Wall — the largest PropTech-focused venture capital firm in the world by assets under management, with a strategic LP base that includes virtually every major real estate company globally — and the most strategically positioned PropTech investor in the market. Throughout 2025-2026, Fifth Wall's continued investment activity across residential, commercial, construction, and climate PropTech and Wallace's public voice on what the built environment's technology transformation requires from both a capital and operating perspective continued to make him one of the most widely read and most consequential voices in PropTech investment. His model of having real estate operators as LPs who both validate and deploy the portfolio companies into their own businesses gives Fifth Wall a strategic leverage no other PropTech fund has replicated.

Based in Miami, Florida, USA

Co-founder and CEO of RealtyMogul — one of the largest real estate crowdfunding platforms in the US, having raised over $1 billion from more than 250,000 registered users for commercial and residential real estate investments — and one of the most pioneering voices in real estate investment democratisation and the JOBS Act-era opportunity to open real estate investing to non-institutional investors. Throughout 2025-2026, RealtyMogul's continued growth and Helman's public voice on real estate crowdfunding, private market access, and what democratising real estate investment requires in practice continued to make her one of the most practically experienced and most trusted voices on real estate investment technology. As one of the few female CEOs of a major PropTech platform, her public profile and advocacy for women in real estate tech is an additional dimension of her leadership.

Based in Palo Alto, California, USA

Co-founder and CEO of Houzz — the home design and renovation platform that has grown to over 65 million homeowners and more than 3 million home professionals globally, becoming the dominant platform for home renovation planning, contractor discovery, and interior design inspiration — and one of the most quietly extraordinary PropTech success stories of the past decade. Throughout 2025-2026, Houzz's continued platform development, its integration of AI design tools, and Tatarko's public voice on the home design and renovation market continued to make her one of the most important and most widely followed figures in the residential design and renovation segment of PropTech. Her combination of product vision, community building, and marketplace economics has created a platform that sits at the intersection of PropTech and the broader home economy.

Based in Palo Alto, California, USA

Co-founder of Houzz alongside Adi Tatarko — the home renovation and design platform that grew from a personal frustration with their own home renovation into a $4 billion+ global platform — and CTO of one of the most impactful consumer PropTech companies built in the past two decades. Throughout 2025-2026, Cohen's continued technical leadership of Houzz's platform development and his public voice on what the intersection of AI and home design looks like as generative AI tools transform the design workflow continued to make him one of the most consequential technical founders in consumer PropTech.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Co-founder and CEO of Ribbon — the homebuying platform that pioneered the cash-offer-backed purchase model, allowing buyers in competitive markets to make all-cash offers backed by Ribbon's balance sheet, fundamentally changing what buyers without all-cash liquidity can do in hot housing markets — and one of the most creative product thinkers in residential transaction PropTech. Throughout 2025-2026, Shah's continued leadership of Ribbon and his public voice on what removing the contingencies and frictions from homebuying actually requires continued to make him one of the most innovative and practically experienced voices on residential transaction technology. His insight that the financing contingency is the biggest structural disadvantage most buyers carry into competitive real estate markets is one of the most important product insights in residential PropTech.

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Creator and host of Tech Nest — one of the most widely listened-to PropTech podcasts globally — and one of the most practically useful and community-oriented voices in PropTech for founders, operators, and investors who want genuine practitioner conversations rather than keynote speeches. Throughout 2025-2026, Tech Nest continued to be one of the most consistently useful and widely shared resources in the PropTech ecosystem — someone who interviews the founders and operators doing real work rather than the institutional voices who dominate PropTech conference stages. His role as a genuine community builder and content creator in PropTech makes him one of the most practically important voices for the working professional navigating the sector.

Based in Washington, D.C., USA

VP of Business Strategy at the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and one of the most important policy and data voices on what technology adoption in the multifamily sector actually looks like at the institutional level. Throughout 2025-2026, Yaussi's leadership of NMHC's technology initiatives, her public speaking and writing on smart building technology, AI adoption, and what property technology means for the largest multifamily operators in the country continued to make her one of the most practically influential voices at the intersection of policy, operations, and PropTech in the multifamily sector.

Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Co-founder and CEO of StratIS — the enterprise smart building platform that deploys IoT infrastructure and smart access technology across multifamily apartment buildings at scale — and one of the most practically experienced voices on what smart building technology actually requires when it moves from pilot to deployment across portfolios of thousands of apartment units. Throughout 2025-2026, StratIS's continued deployment growth and Moorman's public voice on smart building infrastructure, resident technology, and what the IoT-enabled apartment building looks like in practice continued to make her one of the most credible and practically informed voices in the multifamily smart building segment of PropTech.

Based in San Francisco, California, USA

Founder and CEO of HomeLight — the agent matching and real estate services platform that has facilitated over $23 billion in real estate transactions by connecting buyers and sellers with the top-performing agents in their market — and one of the most practically successful founders in the residential agent technology segment of PropTech. Throughout 2025-2026, HomeLight's continued growth, its expansion into mortgage and closing services, and Uher's public voice on what the future of the agent-enabled transaction looks like as AI augments rather than replaces the agent experience continued to make him one of the most closely watched founders in residential PropTech.

Based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Co-founder and COO of Clever Real Estate — the agent-matching and real estate education platform that has helped over 75,000 buyers and sellers save on agent commissions while connecting them with top local agents — and one of the most prolific and practically useful content producers in real estate technology, with Clever's blog and research output reaching millions of homebuyers and sellers annually. Throughout 2025-2026, Babich's continued public writing, speaking, and leadership of Clever's content and research programme continued to make him one of the most accessible and practically useful voices in residential consumer PropTech — someone whose work reaches the actual homebuyers and sellers who are the ultimate beneficiaries of PropTech's promise.

Based in New York City, New York, USA

Co-founder and CEO of EliseAI — the AI-powered leasing and resident communication platform that has become one of the most widely deployed AI systems in multifamily real estate, with its conversational AI handling leasing inquiries, scheduling tours, and resident communications for hundreds of thousands of apartment units — and one of the most important founders in the AI-native PropTech wave. Named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2025, EliseAI's deployment scale and the sophistication of its real estate-specific AI makes Cline one of the most consequential technical founders in the current generation of PropTech builders. Throughout 2025-2026, EliseAI's continued growth and its role at the forefront of AI deployment in multifamily operations made Cline one of the most closely watched young founders in the sector.