Vonovia partners with Aroundtown’s Startup Accelerator ATechX

Five strong partners, one shared mission: ATechX offers startups real-world testing opportunities, setting it clearly apart from the competition

The startup accelerator ATechX, initiated by Aroundtown, is gaining a prestigious new partner: Vonovia, Europe’s leading residential real estate company, joins the partner network, expanding the existing consortium of noa, Fifth Wall, and Round Hill Capital. The partnership aims to elevate the program to unprecedented heights, fully prepared to transform the industry and propel it to its next level. ATechX’s approach fosters technological implementation into the real estate industry with significant upside potential.

Through the collaboration with Vonovia, ATechX gains a partner with a European portfolio of over 500,000 residential units across Germany, Sweden and Austria and extensive experience in integrating sustainable and digital solutions into existing building structures.

"We are thrilled to welcome Vonovia as a strategic partner. Together, we share the vision of creating a platform around innovation in real estate through ATechX that gives startups the ability to test and fine tune their ideas on a real-life a portfolio and its operations, user feedback, and the opportunity to make real impact, thereby driving the real estate industry forward with innovative concepts and unlocking new potential and pushing the industry into the next phase," says Barak Bar-Hen, CEO of Aroundtown.

A Unique Selling Proposition in the Accelerator Market

While many accelerator programs focus primarily on mentoring and funding, ATechX deliberately goes a step further: Startups test and fine tune their ideas to real physical spaces – in hotels, residential building complexes, office buildings, or neighborhoods. Here startups can test, evaluate, and co-develop their technologies under real operating conditions. And the concept is gaining traction: After a successful launch in fall 2024, the ATechX project team has already launched its second cohort.

"What makes ATechX special is its practical orientation. We believe real innovation unfolds a significant impact in real operations. This is a powerful cooperation where the partners bring in a very high degree of experience and expertise. We are excited about the coming projects and their benefits to everybody involved," emphasizes Alexander Weihe, head of Corporate Development at Vonovia. "As a new partner, we’re also bringing real challenges that we want to solve together with startups to deliver the greatest value to our tenants."

An Ecosystem for Forward-Looking Solutions

With Vonovia joining, the ATechX network now comprises five strong players, two experienced VC’s, Fifth Wall and noa, and the real estate company Round Hill Capital focused on innovative accommodation solutions. Together with Aroundtown’s portfolio, the network covers various market segments – from residential to commercial to hospitality. The accelerator thus creates an ecosystem that offers startups not just capital and mentorship but also a realistic scaling environment.

Already today, initial solutions in areas such as smart building, energy efficiency, user communication, IoT, robotics, and digital construction processes are being piloted with startups. Startups onboarded by ATechX following the first cohort are commercially deployed within the portfolio and have successfully completed significant funding rounds post the program.

With Vonovia’s involvement, innovation in the real estate and corporate industry are expected to receive even more support going forward.

About ATechX

ATechX is a pioneering Proptech accelerator powered by Aroundtown, dedicated to supporting innovative founders. The program offers a focused, four-month journey, customized individually for each early-stage startup ready to scale disruptive solutions across the entire real estate lifecycle—from finance and design to leasing and operations—covering all asset classes including residential, commercial, and hospitality.

Startups gain exclusive access not only to Aroundtown’s extensive European portfolio but also to the valuable portfolios of Round Hill Capital and Vonovia. This provides a unique, real-world environment to validate and enhance their technologies. ATechX emphasizes execution, with a hands-on approach guided by seasoned real estate professionals from diverse disciplines. These experts help startups refine their market fit and sharpen their value proposition, ensuring practical, strategic growth.

The program is supported by leading industry players: Fifth Wall, noa, Round Hill Capital, Vonovia

More info: www.atechx.de

About Aroundtown

Aroundtown is one of Europe's largest real estate companies, M-Dax listed and focused on income generating quality properties that have potential for value-add in central locations mainly in Germany and the Netherlands. 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 Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Bloomberg Gender Equality 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 as well as a signatory of the United Nations 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, Allianz, BNP Paribas, Japan’s Government investment fund, Alliance-Bernstein, Dekabank, State-Street, Bank of Montreal and many other leading international investors. The main bond investors include ECB, GIC, Union Investment, DB, UBS, CS, M&G, Pictet, Credit Agricole and many other major institutional investors. www.aroundtown.de

About Vonovia

Vonovia SE is Europe’s leading private residential real estate company. With 535,000 residential units in Germany, Sweden and Austria, the focus is on the development and rental of modern and energy-efficient housing. Vonovia focuses on sustainability as the core of its growth policy and offers tenants a home with a high quality of living and excellent service.

The Bochum based company has been listed on the stock exchange since 2013. Since September 2015 Vonovia has been a constituent in the DAX. Vonovia SE is also a constituent of additional national and international indices, including DAX 50 ESG, Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index, STOXX Global ESG Leaders, EURO STOXX ESG Leaders 50, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe, and GPR 250 World. Vonovia has a workforce of approximately 12,300 employees.

www.vonovia.de

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