Real estate is one of the longest standing brick and mortar industries, but also typically one of the slowest to adopt new technology. Spark RE Technologies is an industry-leading platform for new home sales and marketing, and they’re set to transform the real estate development world.
Spark is specifically designed to power the entire process of selling and marketing new real estate. It’s a single platform that incorporates a back-end CRM with custom sales reporting, inventory management, digital contract generation and mass email marketing. With Spark, developers can access a whole realm of data, access and transparency.
Developers from all over North America have streamlined their sales processes using Spark. The robust platform allows users to manage all of their projects from a single dashboard, giving them immediate access to custom reporting across their entire portfolio. At the same time, they can customize the platform to their requirements, giving each development project the ability to have its own processes and workflows for better efficiency.
Inspiration behind Spark
Simeon Garratt is a Co-founder and CEO of Spark RE Technologies. Spark grew from the founders’ passion for selling and marketing developments around the world, and their frustration at the available tools. Founders Simeon Garratt, Cody Curley, and Ryan Ilg originally teamed up in 2012. Spark was released in its current form in 2015, and has steadily evolved since then.
“Excel spreadsheets, pen and paper, all those low tech processes are currently what is being used to get more real estate deals done,” Garratt explained, “I was one of the people affected by it, and that led me to try to solve that problem, because I knew I wasn’t the only one. It sounds cheesy, but I knew there had to be a better way.”
“Our clients build skylines. Using the Spark platform, they’re able to fill them with people and create communities,” Garratt said.
He cites the physical impact of Spark as one of the major reasons he loves leading the company. “We’re at the forefront of real estate, development, and technology. Spark has a rare ability to see the digital translated into the physical realm.”
Power Packed Technologies
Two technologies that Spark is excited to incorporate are blockchain and digitization capabilities such as DocuSign. Spark’s partnership with DocuSign has allowed for a greater degree of digitization, removing manual pen and paper from contract and signature transactions. The team is also investigating blockchain as a potential way to approach some of Spark’s data transactions and security protocols.
Latest Projects
The biggest project for Spark is building the software ecosystem around new development and real estate. Currently, there is no centralized hub where people can access technology efficiently. Spark is willing and able to take on the task of building an infrastructure that will allow people to do that. Once the ecosystem is established, users will need data to support them in making informed and potential decisions for their businesses. Another project that Spark is working on is the organization and aggregation of this data. The current state of real estate data is vague and inaccurate, and Spark’s initiatives in turn will bring insight and clarity to the market.
The Spark Team
The team at Spark is passionate about real estate and technology. Not only because it is the industry they work in, but because of the real effects that they can make in the world. The founders have surrounded themselves with a talented, tightly knit team. This includes Ryan Ilg, CTO, who returned to the company a few years after being part of the original conceptualization of Spark, and Sales and Marketing Director Jessica Radziszewska, a veteran in new development sales and marketing. Spark’s team of industry experts gives them reliable expertise in the real estate development industry, which in turn brings value to their clients.
Upcoming Challenges
Two of Spark’s biggest challenges are communicating their vision to the real estate industry, and translating it to markets around the world. Spark is currently working in over 80 cities around the world, and are looking to grow into more. They need to educate people on the value of technology in a field as old as real estate. To do this, Spark has to overcome the belief that technology isn’t necessary, by demonstrating that their platform has the power to make their clients’ day to day work more successful and efficient.
Words of Wisdom
Simeon Garratt’s advice to young entrepreneurs is to be patient. It’s important to gain experience in multiple fields. Beyond that, entrepreneurs need to make sure to keep themselves interested and engaged in what they do. Surrounding themselves with good people, to share passions and ideas, is a good way to do that. But in the long run, it’s important to look for new ways to stay engaged, keeping their interests fresh and their work seeming new.
