Unlocking Success: How outsourcing remote software developers can empower early-stage UK and European tech start-ups.
Introduction:
In today's digital age, technology start-ups are thriving, and their success often hinges on the strength of their development teams. Finding talented software developers, however, can be a challenging task for early-stage companies. Fortunately, outsourcing remote software developers has emerged as a viable solution, offering numerous advantages for UK and European start-ups. In this article, we will explore the benefits, examples, and drawbacks of outsourcing remote software developers, along with the role of remote work and payroll platforms in simplifying the process of hiring internationally.
Benefits of outsourcing remote software developers:
- Access to a Global Talent Pool:
By outsourcing, start-ups can tap into a vast global talent pool. They are not limited to their local talent pool but can hire skilled professionals from around the world. This enables companies to find developers with specific expertise or niche skills that may be rare or in high demand locally.
- Cost Efficiency:
Hiring and maintaining an in-house development team can be expensive, particularly for early-stage start-ups. Outsourcing allows companies to significantly reduce costs by leveraging the cost advantages of different regions. For instance, outsourcing to countries like India, Ukraine, or Poland can offer competitive rates without compromising on quality.
- Scalability and Flexibility:
Outsourcing remote developers provides scalability, allowing start-ups to quickly adjust the size of their development team based on project needs. It offers flexibility to scale up or down as the business evolves, without the hassle of recruiting and training additional in-house employees.
- Faster Time to Market:
In the highly competitive technology industry, speed is crucial. Outsourcing accelerates the development process by enabling start-ups to access a larger talent pool and distribute tasks efficiently. With a remote team, companies can work around the clock, achieving faster time to market for their products or services.
Examples of Successful Outsourcing:
Several well-known companies have embraced outsourcing remote software developers with great success:
- Slack: The popular communication platform Slack outsourced its initial development to a remote team in Canada. This allowed them to focus on their core business while benefiting from the expertise of a dedicated team of developers.
- GitHub: GitHub, the world's leading software development platform, has remote teams across different countries. They have effectively utilized remote work to expand their talent pool, resulting in rapid growth and success.
Drawbacks of Outsourcing Remote Software Developers:
While outsourcing remote software developers offers numerous advantages, it is important to consider potential drawbacks as well:
- Communication and Collaboration Challenges:
Managing a remote team requires effective communication and collaboration. Different time zones, cultural differences, and language barriers may pose challenges that need to be addressed through clear communication channels and tools.
- Quality Control:
Maintaining consistent quality standards across a remote team can be challenging. Start-ups must establish robust processes, conduct thorough interviews, and establish clear expectations to ensure the outsourced team meets the desired quality benchmarks.
The Role of Remote Work and Payroll Platforms:
Remote work and payroll platforms have played a pivotal role in making it easier for start-ups to hire remote software developers internationally. These platforms offer features such as:
Collaboration Tools:
Platforms like Slack, Trello, and Asana facilitate seamless communication, task management, and collaboration, regardless of team location.
Remote Payroll Management:
Payroll platforms such as DEEL, Remote, and Papaya Global simplify international payroll management, handling local tax compliance, payments, and benefits administration.
We have highlighted 3 companies that have seen success in helping US, UK and EU start-ups help scale their engineering teams through remote workers from developing countries.
Andela is a prominent technology talent marketplace that focuses on connecting African software developers with companies worldwide. They have a rigorous selection process and offer access to highly skilled developers who can work remotely. You can check them out here.
Rafiki.works is a technology start-up that connects technical talent in Africa to companies in the UK and Europe. They partner with the world’s leading technical bootcamps to help place their graduates into international companies. They help global employers unlock value through skills-based recruitment, taking care of all HR functions, including onboarding, payroll, and compliance for remote employees. You can check them out here.
SovTech delivers bespoke software solutions for growing businesses that innovate using cutting edge technologies and cloud software. They have over 350 software professionals, and work with over 500+ international companies. They cover everything from web, mobile, hybrid app development, to maintenance and support. You can check them out here.
Upcoming UK and EU PropTech Events in the second half of 2023:
In the ever-evolving world of real estate and property technology (PropTech), attending industry events has become an indispensable strategy for start-ups, investors, clients and talent alike. These events provide a unique platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and fostering partnerships.
These gatherings bring together pioneers, disruptors, and industry leaders who are passionate about pushing the boundaries of technology in the real estate sector. Start-ups can showcase ideas, products, or services, gaining exposure to potential investors, mentors, and collaborators. These events often feature pitch competitions, hackathons, and demo days, providing unparalleled opportunities to secure funding, valuable feedback, and industry validation.
PropTech events also act as fertile ground for talent, serving as a platform for aspiring professionals, seasoned experts, and industry influencers. These events facilitate networking and relationship-building, creating opportunities for talent to connect with prospective employers, mentors, and peers. Start-ups looking to expand their teams can tap into a pool of highly skilled individuals who are passionate about driving change in the real estate industry. On the other hand, professionals seeking career growth can find avenues to showcase their expertise, gain visibility, and explore new job prospects.
With only 7 months left of 2023, we have highlighted some key events in the UK and EU that you shouldn’t miss out on:
14 June 2023- PropTech Vienna (Vienna, Austria)
PropTech Vienna offers a unique platform for keynotes, roundtables, panel discussions and pitches on the latest digitization trends in the Real Estate industry. PropTechs, Startups, Investors, Business Angels, VCs and Industry Associations in the CEE region will be in attendance. The event showcases 40 + speakers, 300 thought leaders, and 40 + PropTech start-ups. The event is right around the corner, tickets can be found here.
13-15 June 2023- PROVADA (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Provada is known for being the largest real estate fair in the Netherlands. The event has 275 + exhibitors, 250 + speakers, and 24000 + visitors, ranging across project developers, investors, builders, architects to financiers, advisers, brokers and housing associations - and more than 70 municipalities, provinces and the central government and the public sector. You can purchase tickets here.
29 June 2023- BWT UK - (London, UK)
Built World Technology is an event curated by SPACE+ for progressive property leaders, landlords, occupiers and investors to tackle their built world technology challenges. Tickets can be purchased here.
6-7 September 2023- PropTech Connect (London, UK)
London’s PropTech Connect is Europes largest PropTech event that cannot be missed. 3000+ attendees, 100+ speakers, 1000+ companies and 15000+ meetings. Some of the biggest names in Real Estate attend the event every year, including Blackstone, CBRE and JLL. Their mission is to connect executives, investors and entrepreneurs shaping the future of real estate technology. Tickets can be purchased here.
7-8 September 2023- REAL PropTech Conference 2023 (Frankfurt, Germany)
The REAL PropTech Conference gives the largest overview of the construction and real estate industry in the DACH region of GreenTech, ConTech & PropTech. The event hosts a hackathon, where talents have the opportunity to compete to win a prize of 5,000 euros. At the same time, attendees can explore structured network and exhibition areas to experience various trends in real estate innovation. Tickets can be purchased here.
4-6 October 2023- EXPO REAL 2023 (Munich, Germany)
EXPO REAL is an international trade fair for real estate and investment, and offers the ideal platform for a constructive and forward-looking exchange for all stakeholders in the real estate industry. It brings technology start-ups and participants, experts and investors together directly, where PropTech start-ups can present their solutions, services and ideas for the property sector. You can purchase tickets here.
25-26 October 2023- Urban Tech Forward (Warsaw, Poland)
Urban Tech Forward brings together industry leaders on a mission to accelerate the development of net-zero cities. Designed to rethink spaces where people live and work, through the prism of decarbonisation and resilience, it brings together urban tech innovators, VCs, real estate developers, policy-makers and the most prominent entrepreneurs to shift the way we build and make real progress on achieving a zero-carbon future. You can purchase tickets here.
Overall, the PropTech industry is a vibrant and rapidly evolving space, and attending events within this ecosystem offers immense benefits for start-ups, clients, investors, and talent. From providing a platform for start-ups to secure funding and partnerships, to enabling clients to explore cutting-edge solutions that transform their operations, to connecting talent with opportunities for growth and learning, PropTech events serve as a trifecta for all stakeholders involved.
By embracing the power of these events, the real estate industry can forge new frontiers, drive innovation, and shape the future of property technology.
We at PropTech Jobs keep our fingers on the pulse, keeping track of industry trends, whilst identifying innovative start-ups looking to hire exceptional talent as they scale their operations. Keep an eye out for our latest job openings here.
Exploring the trends in the tokenization of Real Estate
What is real estate tokenization:
Tokenization of real estate is a growing trend that has gained significant traction in recent years. It refers to the creation of digital tokens that symbolize ownership or stakes in real estate properties. These tokens are commonly constructed using blockchain technology, which enhances transparency, security, and liquidity in real estate investments. This process allows for the division of ownership in real estate assets into fractions, and even facilitates fundraising through security token offerings conducted on decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges to trade these tokens. This mechanism also has the potential to eliminate intermediaries, heavy paperwork, associated costs, and the risk of fraud within the real estate sector.
How tokenization can benefit the real estate industry:
- Increase Accessibility:
One of the primary benefits of tokenizing real estate is the increased accessibility it offers to a broader range of investors. Traditional real estate investments often require large capital commitments, making them inaccessible to smaller investors. Tokenization allows fractional ownership, enabling individuals to invest in a fraction of a property, lowering the entry barriers and democratizing access to real estate investment opportunities.
2. Liquidity and Fractional Ownership:
Tokenization brings enhanced liquidity to the real estate market. By dividing properties into digital tokens, investors can buy and sell these tokens on secondary marketplaces, enabling them to exit investments more easily than in traditional real estate transactions. Fractional ownership allows investors to diversify their portfolios by investing in multiple properties with smaller amounts of capital, thereby reducing risk.
3. Global Investment Opportunities:
Tokenization of real estate opens up investment opportunities in international markets. Blockchain technology facilitates cross-border transactions by streamlining the process of transferring ownership and eliminating the need for intermediaries. Investors can access real estate assets in different geographical locations without the usual complexities associated with international investments.
4. Enhanced Transparency and Security:
Blockchain technology provides a transparent and secure environment for real estate transactions. Property details, ownership records, and transaction history can be stored on the blockchain, ensuring immutability and reducing the potential for fraud. Smart contracts, coded into the blockchain, automate and enforce terms and conditions, reducing the need for intermediaries and enhancing trust between parties.
5. Fractional Ownership and Shared Economy:
Tokenization aligns with the growing trend of the shared economy. By dividing real estate assets into tokens, multiple investors can share ownership and benefits, such as rental income or capital appreciation. This shared ownership model not only enhances liquidity but also promotes a more inclusive and cooperative approach to real estate investment.
6. Potential for Increased Real Estate Market Efficiency:
Tokenization has the potential to increase market efficiency by streamlining the entire real estate lifecycle. From property listing and fundraising to purchasing, selling, and managing assets, blockchain-based platforms can automate and digitize these processes, reducing paperwork, minimizing costs, and improving overall operational efficiency.
7. Regulatory Considerations:
The tokenization of real estate also presents regulatory challenges and considerations. Different jurisdictions have varying regulations regarding securities, property rights, and investor protection. Regulators are working to establish frameworks to govern tokenized assets and ensure compliance with existing laws. As the technology evolves, legal and regulatory frameworks will likely adapt to accommodate the tokenization of real estate.
The US market:
The US has led the charge of tokenization in real estate for the last few years, with frontrunner companies such as Roofstock raising $240m at a $1.9B valuation back in March 2022.
We have highlighted 4 leading US companies in this sector that are currently hiring for multiple roles.
Founded in 2015, Roofstock is a San Francisco-based real estate investment marketplace with a mission to make real estate investing radically accessible, cost-effective, and simple. With $5 billion in transactions since its launch. This puts Roofstock in a strong position to become the world’s leading real estate investment marketplace. Roofstock is currently hiring for multiple roles in the US across Engineering, Business Development, Property Management and Legal Counsel.
HoneyBricks offers investors a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the commercial real estate market in a new and exciting way. Through its platform, it allows investors to tokenize investments in approved projects, thus providing fractional ownership of assets backed by the Ethereum blockchain. HoneyBricks is currently hiring for multiple roles in the US and Canada across engineering, investor relations, marketing, product and operations.
Arrived is out to revolutionize the way we invest in rental homes and vacation rentals. The company seeks to make wealth-building through real estate more accessible through its streamlined and intuitive platform. Arrived is currently hiring in the US for product design and operations roles.
RealT is a fractional and frictionless real estate investment platform reinventing ownership. Investors around the globe can buy into the US real estate market through fully-compliant, fractional, tokenized ownership. RealT is currently hiring for 2 Full Stack Developers in the US.
The UK and European market outlook:
If we take take a look at real estate tokenization in Europe and the UK, there is a growing trend across the UK, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, with the latter being the first nation in the world to come up with a comprehensive tokenization law. The revolution is being led by blockchain firms that release security tokens supported by tangible property assets. Similar to stocks, these tokens symbolize ownership rights. Although cryptocurrencies remain largely unregulated in the UK, real estate security tokens are subject to regulation and are categorized as investment instruments.
We have highlighted 3 companies in the UK and Europe to keep an eye on.
Definder, is a leading innovator in the tokenization of Real Estate sector in the UK. Their Smartlands platform enables investors to participate in institutional-grade deals with a much lower buy-in threshold than investing directly through the same sponsors. Investors can position themselves alongside experienced asset managers and benefit from risk-adjusted returns.
Bricktrade is the UK’s first construction financing platform accepting cryptocurrencies for property investments. Bricktrade connects property developers with investors on a blockchain-powered real estate marketplace, allowing everyone to own a part of a property without any loans, deposits, and the standard paperwork.
Algae is a mobile application that makes it easy to invest in real estate investment projects through blockchain technology from as little as 10€. Their mission to democratize real estate investment at your fingertips. Algae is looking for a Co-founder COO to join their team. You can view the role on our platform here
Find the latest job opportunities in the PropTech industry on our website. We combine new technologies and human expertise to provide our clients and candidates with the best quality of services.
How PropTech is changing the real estate industry
Proptech is reshaping the real estate industry in many ways and offers plenty of opportunities for real estate professionals. Proptech refers to companies that are providing technologically innovative products and novel business models for the real estate markets. The digital landscape is constantly evolving. And so organisations are trying to keep up with these changes – as well as shifting consumer patterns – in order to gain a competitive edge, become more cost-efficient, responding to the diverse needs of clients, and offer innovations. This is the essence of proptech.
While real estate professionals all heard about proptech two years ago, it is still very much in its infancy. There is increasing awareness of how technology is transforming the real estate industry, but companies are also starting to understand why the digital age encompasses so much more than technology.
Industry Experts on Proptech
The KPMG Global PropTech Survey 2018 asked hundreds of real estate professionals what their opinions were on proptech. Key findings of the report include:
- 97% of respondents think that digital and technological change will impact their business.
- 60% think that this impact will be very significant.
- 73% see digital and technological innovation as an opportunity. A further 25% see it as both an opportunity and threat.
- 90% think that the corporate real estate industry views PropTech as an opportunity/enabler
- 78% feel that digital and technological innovation engagement from across the real estate industry has increased over the last 12 months.
- 93% agree with the statement “Traditional real estate organizations need to engage with PropTech companies in order to adapt to the changing global environment.”
- 66% do not have a clear enterprise-wide digital and technological innovation vision and strategy.
- 56% rate their business 5 or below out of 10 in terms of digital and technological innovation maturity.
- 30% of real estate organizations say they currently invest or plan to invest in PropTech start-ups.
Proptech is a Widespread Phenomenon
All over the world, we are seeing a sharp rise in the number of proptech companies. In Europe alone, the Real Estate Innovation Network (REIN) was able to identify 1,622 proptech startups. REIN, in collaboration with PwC and EXPO REAL, have published a PropTech Map, highlighting the top 100 European proptech startups in 2018.
Appetite From Investors
We have seen a dramatic rise in investment in the proptech sector. Indeed, global investment in proptech companies increased by 63% from 2016 to 2017, amounting to $17bn of total investment during that period. Furthermore, the Global Prop Tech Confidence Index for mid-2018 underlines that overall investor confidence in proptech has hit a record high. Aaron Block, Co-Founder & Managing Director of MetaProp NYC, said:
“Along with non-real estate-based institutional investors, the billions of dollars being directed to this investment category has catapulted PropTech to new heights of asset-class desirability.”
Meanwhile, Jordan Nof of Tusk Ventures stresses:
“The biggest change and opportunity will be watching how PropTech entrepreneurs execute on building their businesses during a market downturn, and how the investors who have supported them react. It is when the market gets difficult that we see who is really positioned for success.”
Nof also argues that companies who only make minor improvements in their approach to proptech could struggle in the competitive global market. KPMG make a similar point in their report, noting that many of its member firms are making piecemeal improvements, instead of taking a holistic strategy. Moreover, many of its firms seem to be doing a lot of talking when it comes to proptech, but aren’t putting those words into an actionable plan.
The Impact of Proptech on the Recruitment Industry
Given the rise of proptech, certain jobs are becoming increasingly in demand. This is due to the fact that specific digital, business, and numerical skills are now essential to any proptech company’s growth and success. Recruiters are now sourcing candidates for a variety of jobs, including:
- Full stack developer
- Business development manager
- Product manager
- Content marketing manager
- Analyst
Some key players (such as founders of tech companies) are trying to disrupt the real estate industry. These entrepreneurs have a purely tech background, with no past experience of real estate – yet they are utilising their knowledge and skills in order to fill a gap in the market.
One interesting company to keep an eye on is Appear Here, which describes itself as “the world’s leading marketplace for retail space”. Founded by Ross Bailey when he was just 22, the business helps brands to find and book space online, which they say is “as easy as booking a hotel room”. Appear Here has worked with some of the most valuable brands, including Apple, Nike, Coca Cola, Spotify, and Google.
Another promising business is Houzen, set up in March last year, with the aim of revolutionising the online lettings space. It’s a highly successful proptech business that focuses on the residential market. And so far, they have developed the fastest letting search engine that matches properties with ideal tenants. On top of that they sell services to tenants in order to generate additional revenue. Houzen has already a strong track record and they have mandates in place with top tier companies such as Greystar, L&Q, Kennedy Wilson, and Invesco.
Advice to Professionals
As a real estate professional, it’s important to keep up with proptech trends. Then, once you can gauge where the most promising technologies lie, it’s worth investing in them as quickly as possible. Competition for investment is tough. Another key tip is to regularly ask clients for how you could improve your services. This will help to keep you up-to-date with the latest consumer trends. Finally, while technology may be changing the nature of the real estate sector, there is still a need for human expertise. Technological innovations should be viewed as a means for enhancing, not replacing, essential human skills.
