Inaugural IOI Hackathon finds its proptech winners

• Winning entry is Green Phoenix with social listening tool to enhance property marketing
• Top 3 winners supported with further funding, business advice, mentorship, test beds

The inaugural IOI Hackathon, a proptech hackathon held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, has found its winners. The competition, which was part of IOI Properties’ Live.Life! brand campaign, was aimed at seeking tech-based solutions to the property market’s deep-seated problems. It seems like they found a few.

In a span of a week from 17 July to 25 July 2020, 64 teams of three were tasked to develop and build a software solution to either boost the image of the property sector, or to improve the quality of the industry. 

The winning entry was team Green Phoenix, which developed a social listening tool to enhance property marketing. Runners-up was Prop Analytica, which built an analytics tool to predict property buyers’ behaviours. The second runners-up were Prop Boss with their tools to help landlords manage rental properties.

The three top teams got the lion share of the US$8,250 (RM35,000) cash prize money, and will be further supported with funding, business advice mentorship, and test beds for incubator programmes. 

“Digitalisation is inevitably changing business models. Even the traditional property industry is being forced to embrace this change. Hence, to move forward, we need to shake up and disrupt the industry with digital innovation. We are constantly looking for real digital solutions and ideas to transform and revolutionise the industry,” says IOI Properties chief sales and marketing officer Jason Tie.

“We want to improve the lifestyle of our residents, community, colleagues and business partners. As well as support young talent to pursue their ideas.”

IOI Hackathon was conducted in a hybrid model, where the primary dash to develop the proptech solution was done virtually while the “Pitching on stage” event was held at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel on 1 August 2020, after the movement control order (MCO) period that was imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

During the hackathon week, all 64 teams were coached by mentors from various fields of expertise. They included the likes of Stanley Seow (an IoT and hackathon specialist), Edward Chin (founder of Actualize Hub), Aaron Sarma (of Scaleup Malaysia), Arvind Patmarajah (StartFund), and Ikhwan Nazri (CEO of Amanz Media), to name a few.

Upon closing of project submissions on 25 July, 10 of the developed solutions were picked to advance to the Grand Finals held last Saturday.

IOI Hackathon marks the first event under the IOI Properties’ LIVE.LIFE! brand campaign, a campaign curated for millennials.