JLL’s $100m technology play pays off

JLL president and chief executive Christian Ulbrich reiterated the company’s commitment to innovation and investment in technology this week as he reported “pleasing” revenue growth off the back of digital products. He added that out of the $100m JLL has ringfenced to invest in technology, 40% has been invested already and the deal pipeline is “very strong”. The update, which Ulbrich and chief global financial officer Stephanie Plaines gave as the company released it full-year 2019 results this week, comes after the creation of a dedicated new technology business, JLL Technologies, last year. It was announced in August that Mihir Shah and Yishai Lerner (pictured), who initially came on board in June 2018 to head the  agent’s venture capital fund JLL Spark, would move to head the new technology arm of the business and would join the group’s global executive as a result. The move caught the attention of the global real estate sector and now Ulbrich has reported the bold decision looks to be paying off. He said: “We are incredibly pleased with the performance of JLL Technologies where we brought all our technology within JLL together, whether it’s platform technology, client-facing technology, or our investments into the proptech area. This is something where we see us as a real leader in our industry and a clear differentiator for our clients. “We are looking at every type of product which is helping our clients to be more successful with their real estate portfolios or investments. That is kind of the key criteria is a technology which helps our clients to be more successful with their real estate ventures. Plaines added: “We have ringfenced the $100m to invest in real estate technologies through our Spark funds. We are progressing with those investments well, and they are already starting to be commercialised and beta tested within our own company and starting to do that with clients.” To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @estatesgazette