Avison Young Acquires Proptech Company

Mark Rose, chair & CEO of Avison Young. Image courtesy of Avison Young

Avison Young has expanded its tech platform through the acquisition of Truss, an online marketplace tool for leasing office or coworking space. The company purchased the intellectual property and other assets of Truss for an undisclosed price and will integrate the newly acquired technology into its global intelligence platform called AVANT.

READ ALSO: Proptech Shows Recovery Signs Despite Drop in Investor Confidence

Two dozen of Truss’ employees, including software engineers, data scientists, digital analysts and brokers, will join Avison Young along with Bobby Goodman, co-founder of Truss, who will serve as a principal at the company.

The Chicago-based Truss was launched in June 2019 and has since spread to also offer its services in Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Much like how travelers compare prices of hotels through a web platform, Truss helps those looking for office or coworking space with price comparison in an online marketplace. While Truss’ services were free for tenants, the company made its profits from landlord commissions when a lease was signed.

Mark Rose, chair & CEO of Avison Young, told Commercial Property Executive that the company began talking to Truss two years ago when the startup was looking for investments from all the top brokerages. While the partnership didn’t materialize then, Truss and Avison Young began conversations again this summer that led to the acquisition.

Umbrella Tech Platform

Rose told CPE that the Truss acquisition represents another step for its umbrella tech platform, AVANT, that will combine the company’s experience in real estate, consulting and technology. Recently, Avison Young also acquired a top consulting team in the U.S.

“It’s the first global data warehouse that’s unimpeded by the silos that exist in other places,” Rose said of Avison Young’s new platform. “This is the contribution of a global firm into a single database that is visually digitized with applications sitting on top of it.”

 While Rose declined to offer any specifics about AVANT’s timing, he told CPE that Avison Young will be focusing on integrating Truss’ technology into the platform. He added that the company will continue to look for ways to expand the platform with leading-edge tech.

“If there are other Proptech companies that can be integrated, advance what we can build in the future and get us there faster, we’d be happy to look into them,” Rose told CPE. “We don’t see a lot of them and Truss was a jewel so we went after them hard.”