Weekly Radar #362: Pitching The Sharks, Proptech Index Down 1.67%, Piloting Mass Timber In Data Centers, Spacing Boxabl
In this Weekly Radar, we cover:
- The feedback from Alex Montalenti’s pitch to Robert Herjavec and Kevin Harrington at the Domination Conference underscores that startups fail more from lack of focus than capital.
- Meta is using mass timber in data centers with key partners to cut embodied carbon by 41% and spur wider use.
- Boxabl plans to go public via a $3.5B SPAC merger with FG Merger II, raising hopes it can defy proptech’s poor SPAC track record and scale delivery of its ADU “casitas.”
- The GEM Proptech Index decreased 1.67% from the previous week.
Geek Estate’s Proptech Getaway, an intimate (founders and C-suite) retreat for the brightest minds in proptech, is back for the 3rd year running…taking place in beautiful Central Oregon at Juniper Preserve April 28-30th, 2026. An exclusive gathering for GEM Diamond members. Are you coming?
Latest from Geek Estate Blog:
Geek Estate Team
Geek Estate Team
Geek Estate Team
As always, links surrounded by the ❇️ emoji indicate exclusive GEM Diamond content. If you would like to have access to all links or attend our curated gatherings (lunch and breakfast this week in San Diego during Inman, dinner in Vegas during Blueprint, NYC dinner during CREtech in October), please consider GEM Diamond membership.
Transmission Recap:
This week, Drew Meyers posits ❇️that consumer real estate startups pivot to B2B because the challenge lies not in technology but in winning consumer trust❇️. Last week, Drew Meyers argued that financial institutions are the required go to market channel for alternative real estate investment platforms to reach the mainstream.
BIZ INTEL
PROPTECH INDEX WEEKLY
By: Community Relations
Consisting of 26 stocks, the GEM Proptech Index had a combined market cap of $253.657B, a decrease of 1.67% from the previous week.
GEM DIAMOND MEMBER NEWS
- Genevieve Becker started a new role as Head of Ventures at Kiavi.
- Listen to Michael Lucarelli on the Listing Bits podcast with Greg Robertson.
- Joe Schneider started a new role as Chief Real Estate Officer at Modern.tech.
- PadSplit partnered with New Western. – Atticus LeBlanc, Kurt Byers and Kurt Carlton
- Lone Wolf Technologies became the exclusive reseller of Tether RE and welcomed York Baur as Chief Industry Relations Officer. – Scott Martin and York Baur
- Fyma shared a look into its heatmap functionality. – Karen K Burns
- Flyhomes raised $15M with new ‘Buy Before You Sell’ model. – Tushar Garg
- Listen/watch Sam DeBord on the HalloCasa podcast.
STARTUPS
PITCHING THE SHARKS
By: Drew Meyers
Getting in front of the sharks from Shark Tank is no easy feat.
Alex Montalenti managed to pull it off. Not on the show, but at the Domination Conference with two sharks in attendance (Robert Herjavec and Kevin Harrington). He shared the story and the full video pitch and feedback on his Facebook account (direct video link).
One piece of feedback to call attention to is the "small startups don't fail from lack of capital. Small companies fail from lack of focus." Boiling the ocean before boiling the spaghetti noodles is a mistake far too many founders make...myself included.
CONSTRUCTION
PILOTING MASS TIMBER IN DATA CENTERS
By: Drew Meyers