ZWEISPACE Japan: Shaping the Real Estate World of Tomorrow

The global real estate market has witnessed a dramatic shift in its operations, driven by ever-changing technologies, state of economy, government legislations, and investor behavior. There was a time when real estate agents were the sole wardens of property information, and contacting them was always the first step in an investor’s or home buyer’s journey. Along the way, the advent of the internet and online world upended everything. Organizations in the real estate landscape began using websites to post property listings, which gave buyers ready access to every kind of information they needed. The consumers became more sophisticated and well-informed than before, and they could easily browse through listings, find houses, and narrow the search on their own. This evolution forced real estate organizations to redefine the way they work. As they look to modernize their business, implementing advanced software applications are instrumental in improving their sales, marketing, and revenue.

One company that is revolutionizing the industry with its powerful real estate technologies is the Tokyo-based Zweispace.

The Path to Modernization

The successful journey of Zweispace traces back to 2015 when Hayato Kameta, founder of Zweispace, was the CEO at ARK, a renowned real estate company in Tokyo. During this period, he observed several pain points that organizations were facing in the real estate space. Most business operations and sales were carried out manually, which resulted in unexpected delays and high transaction costs. As real estate is a physical asset with three-dimensional perspectives, there are numerous considerations such as location, risk, and demographics for realtors to evaluate. Assessing all these factors using a traditional approach to sell a property was a tough row to hoe.

"Our ultimate goal is to add value to rental property while making the real estate industry one of the most advanced industries across the globe"

Looking at the status quo of real estate business from close quarters, Kameta decided to develop technology solutions that address the challenges in the sector. Drawing on his broad academic and professional experience in 3D CAD, internet, telecom, finance, and real estate industries, Kameta created top-notch applications using advanced technologies such as AI and blockchain for all aspects of the real estate business.

 

Zweispace’s real estate and construction apps overcame all the challenges associated with the traditional approach and set the wheels in motion for the company. “Our ultimate goal is to add value to the real estate space through the power of technology making it one of the most advanced industries,” states Kameta.

Driving Innovation Forward

Over the years, Zweispace has patented numerous innovative real estate applications. AutoCalc, an AI architect and appraiser for realtors, is one such innovation capable of evaluating the maximum use of a given piece of land. To start with, the user has to upload an image of the land along with other information regarding regulations, and material to be used for the structure such as wood, steel, or reinforced concrete to the cloud-based AI app. By using this information, the user can create an accurate 2D and 3D floor plan to construct the building. AutoCalc also calculates rent, total asset value, construction cost, NOI (cap rate), and value of the property, along with the value of the land itself. As a part of their real estate solutions, the company has also developed a property rental and leasing portal for large and small realtors, which has more than 400,000 properties already listed. By partnering with small realtors nationwide, they have covered most of the prefectures in Japan.



As Japan is prone to earthquakes, real estate organizations often seek tools to protect buildings against seismic threats. Zweispace has developed a free app called Namazu, a blockchain-powered earthquake detection and simulation system that can measure the earthquake resistance of a particular building and provide the potential loss statements. The company’s groundbreaking technology also integrates with building sensors to precisely predict the damages that could be caused by natural disasters to help construction companies design buildings that can withstand nature’s fury.

Along with natural disasters, Kameta is also tackling a different problem associated with the nation’s aging population that will impact the global real estate market over the next decade. To put it simply, nearly one out of every three households has an older person, who will have to eventually transfer the ownership of the property.

 
With that in mind, Zweispace is in talks with law firms in Japan to offer trust-related services using their smart contract solution. “Our patented smart contract solution is efficient and cost-effective and can lower the hurdle of onboarding seven million potential customers,” reveals Kameta. The company has tested and patented its property registry system and aims to be the key platform for providing software and knowledge to the real estate industry.

Modernizing Real Estate

By blending real estate and technology, Zweispace has proven to be invaluable to real estate organizations as it creates investment opportunities that add immense business value. A majority of the company’s clients are large enterprise realtors, home/apartment builders, and leasing agents across Japan. The effectiveness of Zweispace’s robust applications can be well illustrated with a client success story. Zweispace assisted a Tokyo-based apartment builder to find opportunistic land and build new apartments by projecting a floor plan that will garner maximum rent. To this day, they have sold several apartments worth 100 millions of dollars among which 50 apartments valued approximately at two million dollars were in central and suburban areas of Tokyo.

Steering ahead, Zweispace is all set to develop Namazu 2.0, which will allow building designers to accumulate information about the relative displacement between two adjacent stories of a shaking building. “Integrated with virtual 3D simulation and physical motion detector, our application helps engineers study the possible cracks of the building with the help of AI algorithms to design a better structure. In fact, the application also lends a competitive edge to the insurance industry, helping them insure their existing assets more accurately,” explains Kameta. The company also intends to extend its footprint in Asian countries and is actively looking for partners or investors to expand their real estate apps and platforms. As a part of their expansion plan, Zweispace is already catering their solutions to regional banks, large construction and insurance companies.

Zweispace is on a mission to disseminate the value of blockchain in real estate business and help organizations harness its maximum benefit. The company, in collaboration with its partners, has recently launched a yen-denominated app token as well as real estate ownership tokens. The current applications will cover various aspects of real estate such as recording of titles, leasing contracts, and even critical details such as earthquake information. “These global networks of cryptocurrency will help us stay ahead of the curve in all aspects of real estate transactions, including finance, sales, and registrations,” concludes Kameta.