Irakli Menabde is the COO, Board Member, and Investor at REalyse Analytics. Most recently he served as Verto’s Head of Product, a cross-border FX platform, following three years at Cash Flows, a UK payments Acquirer and Issuer supported by Pollen Street Capital. He holds an MBA from Oxford University.
Tell us about your entrepreneurial background and how you got into property
“I’ve worn quite a few hats in my career, having started out with a strong foundation in listed equity capital markets, Private Equity, and Venture Capital. Prior to my move to the VC world. For seven years, I was on the buy side, dealing with Impact Investing in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Investments.
I decided it was time for a change, and made the leap across the pond to the UK, where I shifted gears into the world of Fintech and Proptech.
In the Fintech arena, I’ve taken on roles like Chief Analytics Officer (CAO) and Board Member in Payments and Head of Product in Cross-Border FX.
I’m now the COO, Board Member and Investor at REalyse Analytics. Ultimately, my venture into the PropTech space was a result of my desire for growth, challenge, and impact. Much like FinTech was learning the data lessons from Capital Markets Investing, PropTech is rapidly making the real estate industry data-dependant in a similar way.
The move allowed me to merge my financial acumen with my passion for sustainability and innovation. This is where I find myself today, driving data-driven change and delivering results in the ever-evolving landscape of property and technology.”
Tell us about REalyse Analytics and its unique features
“Using cutting-edge technology, REalyse provides access to every relevant dataset on UK residential property in one platform. That’s over 100 data sources covering planning, policy, land ownership, market data, achieved rents and demographics in one place; for accurate comparisons, benchmarking and trend-spotting in UK residential real estate.
We’ve got about 200 institutional clients, including the likes of CBRE, British Land, Cortland, and many more across investment, lending and development sectors. More recently we have added a disruptive PropTech company to our client base. It’s a very cool tool and use cases are proving to be endless. Some of the unique features include the Comparables, Markets, Demographics and our own Nationwide Indexes and an Asset Valuation and Rents Model.
This includes weekly valuations and an indexation of the sales and rental value of each property in a portfolio, as well as forecasts of up to 24 months across the whole of the UK with up to 800 data points per property.
The deep tech makes simultaneous comparisons of multiple locations and datasets effortless. The platform taps into hundreds of data pools to generate masses of market data including sales figures like ‘price paid’, ‘asking £/sqft’, as well as rental data like ‘achieved rent’ and ‘asking rent’. Another unique feature is the capacity to visualize market information as time series, benchmark against regional or national averages, and incorporate quartiles. It’s unlike anything that exists today.
We have also seen REalyse being used to optimise resource allocation across the UK. For instance, access to regional demographics data such as age, and income have assisted in targeting specific groups for housing or community development projects. The “Points of Interest” feature has also been key for urban planning decisions. Identifying key facilities such as transportation hubs, schools, dining options, and supermarkets (or lack thereof) has been paramount to the decision-making process.”
What do real estate investors, developers and lenders need to know?
“They need to know as much about the property market as possible, in real-time, at any given time. Lenders, investors, and developers can leverage REalyse’s Markets feature to access comprehensive property market data. This includes information on property prices, sales transactions, rental rates, and market trends. By analysing this data, stakeholders can make informed decisions regarding lending, investments, or development projects. They can also benchmark their projects against regional or national averages for better risk assessment.
Estimating yields and assessing market conditions depends on accurate information regarding sales transactions and rental listings. If developers and investors can combine that with property comparables with ease, they’re laughing.
They’ll also need to be able to assess the feasibility of development projects, from planning and construction to investment and returns. Understanding regulatory constraints, and identifying potential opportunities in different areas can help minimise risk and maximise return. Equally, identifying land ownership details and leaseholds within a given area is vital for site selection, land acquisition, and understanding ownership structures before embarking on development projects.”
Is REalyse working on any product updates?
“Yes. Very exciting, game-changing features are due to be integrated into the platform in the coming weeks. Think green energy, think sustainability and think automation. It’s pure “proptech” and we can’t wait to share it with you.”
