Aroundtown and ZIA jointly drive innovation in the real estate industry: Aroundtown becomes patron of the ZIA Innovation Radar

Application phase for the ZIA Innovation Radar starts today

The German Property Federation (ZIA), the leading association for the real estate industry, and Aroundtown, one of Europe's largest real estate companies, are working together to jointly promote innovation in the real estate industry and identify the “Innovation of the Year” at this year’s ZIA Innovation Radar. Aroundtown becomes patron of this year’s Innovation Radar, for which start-ups, project teams and companies can now apply at www.zia-innovationsradar.de.

Since 2021, the ZIA Innovation Radar has been searching for future-oriented solutions for the real estate industry and giving visibility to ideas. Aroundtown has also been committed to promoting innovative ideas in the real estate sector for many years and supports their practical implementation, in particular with the PropTech accelerator ATechX. With this year's Innovation Radar, ZIA and Aroundtown are jointly providing impetus to focus on forward-looking approaches along the entire value chain and promote dialogue in the real estate industry.

Timothy Wright, Chief Capital Markets Officer at Aroundtown and patron of the ZIA Innovation Radar: “With our start-up accelerator ATechX, we enable start-ups to test their solutions in a practical setting and develop them to market maturity. Aroundtown and the ZIA share the goal of promoting promising innovations at an early stage in order to make a tangible contribution to the future viability of the real estate industry. We are delighted to be involved in shaping the ZIA Innovation Radar as a patron.”

Aygül Özkan, Chief Executive Officer of the ZIA: “Innovation is the key to successfully addressing the major challenges of our time – from climate action and digitalisation to affordable housing. With the ZIA Innovation Radar 2.0, we bring innovative approaches together in a central platform and, with Aroundtown as a strong partner, give them visibility across the real estate industry.”

Martin Rodeck, Chairman of the ZIA Innovation Think Tank: “The Innovation Radar 2.0 enables, for the first time, a holistic view of innovation – spanning the entire value chain, from planning and construction to solutions for existing buildings, as well as the full breadth of the industry, from start-ups to established companies. We are looking forward to the diversity and quality of the submissions and to in-depth discussions within the jury.”

The ZIA Innovation Radar focuses on future-proof solutions for the real estate and construction industry that make a sustainable contribution to the further development of the sector. Start-ups, project teams and companies can apply now until March 11^th 2026. The winners will be honoured for the first time at the ZIA's Real Estate Industry Day (TDI) on May 19^th 2026 – in front of around 2,000 participants from business, politics and society.

With Innovation Radar 2.0, the ZIA is integrating the previous “PropTech of the Year” award and expanding the format to include the perspective of the construction industry. Outstanding solutions will be honoured as “Innovation of the Year” in the categories Real Estate, Design & Build and PropTech.

A jury from the ZIA Innovation Think Tank, which this year also includes Aroundtown, will review more than 100 applications for the Innovation Radar and evaluate them according to clearly defined criteria such as degree of innovation, scalability and sustainability.

Apply now: open, free of charge and industry-wide

Applying for the ZIA Innovation Radar is free of charge and open to both ZIA members and non-members. Organisations can submit up to three applications and must specify which of the following categories they are applying for:

• Real Estate: Innovations related to the life cycle phases of financing, marketing, transaction or management
• Design & Build: Innovations related to the life cycle phases of planning, construction, renovation or project development
• PropTech: Founded in 2015 or later; digital or technology-based product and/or innovative business model; the founding team holds more than 50% of the company shares

During the application process, the innovativeness of a project and its effectiveness in practice are specifically examined. All applications that meet the formal requirements are included in the ZIA Innovation Radar. The three most convincing submissions receive the title “Innovation of the Year”.

About Aroundtown
Aroundtown is one of Europe's largest real estate companies, MDAX listed and focused on income generating quality properties that have potential for value-add in central locations mainly in Germany, the Netherlands and London. The portfolio comprises mainly office, residential and hotel properties. Hundreds of experienced employees from all areas of the value chain ensure that Aroundtown effectively realizes long-term potential. Professional organization, flexibility, innovation and extensive tenant services make Aroundtown a reliable partner for growth and success. Aroundtown is a sustainability leader in the European market with strong visibility in ESG indices such as the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index, and more. Aroundtown is a member of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), the German Property Federation (ZIA), the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), the UN Global Compact Network Germany, Supporting member of the Society of Property Research (gif) as well as a signatory the Charter of Diversity. Aroundtown has received multiple EPRA BPR Gold Awards and EPRA sBPR Gold Awards for its transparent financial and sustainability reporting. Avisco (controlled by Yakir Gabay) holds 15% in Aroundtown (date: 29.07.2022) and Stumpf Capital GmbH 10% (date: 13.11.2023). Other shareholders include Blackrock, Norges, Vanguard, BNP Paribas, AXA, Alliance-Bernstein, APG, Dekabank, State-Street, Bank of Montreal and many other leading international investors. The main bond investors include ECB, GIC, Union Investment, DB, UBS, Nordea, Allianz, M&G, Pictet, Credit Agricole and many other major institutional investors.
In collaboration with the ZIA, Aroundtown is actively committed to promoting innovation and the future viability of the real estate industry. www.aroundtown.de

About ZIA

The German Property Federation (ZIA) is the leading association of the real estate industry in Germany. Through its members, including more than 30 associations, it represents around 37,000 companies across the entire real estate value chain. ZIA provides the real estate industry in all its diversity with a comprehensive and unified representation of interests that reflects its importance to the national economy. As an association of entrepreneurs and trade bodies, ZIA gives the real estate industry a strong voice at both national and European level, with a presence in Brussels and within the Federation of German Industries (BDI). The association is chaired by its President, Iris Schöberl.