Here's a look at new retail-leasing software from proptech unicorn VTS - it's the startup's big bet on bringing a CRM approach to filling vacant space

VTS

Nick Romito, VTS co-founder and CEO

• VTS works with 10 billion square feet of commercial leases, and has a client list that includes real-estate giants like Blackstone, Brookfield, JLL, and CBRE.
• VTS is the most heavily-funded proptech software startup, with backers like Brookfield and Fifth Wall. It has been developing an end-to-end leasing markeplace, truva.
• The startup gave us a demo of its VTS Retail software. It combines a CRM, data and analysis tools, and project management for the retail-leasing process.
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VTS, the proptech software unicorn, works with 10 billion square feet of commercial leases and has a client list that includes real-estate giants like Blackstone, Brookfield, JLL, and CBRE.

The startup has users in multiple verticals in the commercial world, and has focused historically on office leasing. But last week, it launched its first tool specifically for retail.

Nick Romito, CEO and cofounder of VTS, told Business Insider that retail's current challenges make an end-to-end platform even more important to potential clients.

"With retail as a sector right now, people are trying to get as close to their customers as possible ... you want to be close to every piece of data you can about the customer," Romito said.

Retail stores have been closing at high rates as ecommerce has increased in popularity, increasing the stakes for landlords looking to run profitable shopping centers.

Romito said that macroeconomic events have previously "catalyzed" the company's business, giving its experience in Houston after oil prices plunged in 2014 as an example. When oil companies' revenues fell, landlords looking to get closer to their customers started using VTS to more closely track the economic health of their leases.

The new platform, which aggregates data and automates processes across the retail leasing workflow, has been tested by users of various sizes.

"We've got folks who have one single strip mall, and the folks who have 50 malls," Romito said.

The platform includes PropertyCapsule, a retail marketing software company that VTS acquired last October for an undisclosed amount.

VC money has been pouring into proptech startups that are looking to put a tech spin on old-school real estate practices. It's a wide category that is seeing record investments and growing attention from institutional investors and landlords.

Brookfield Ventures in May led a $90 million funding round for VTS. Brookfield has also purchased mall REIT General Growth Partners for a total of $27.5 billion in cash and stock buyouts. VTS established an advisory board to guide development of VTS Retail, and it includes representatives from Brookfield, clients, and prospects in the commercial real estate space.

Romito told me that VTS plans to add more features for retail, with second and third versions likely for this year. VTS has been developing truva, an online leasing marketplace, for the past few years, with the hope of turning its experience with lease management into servicing the whole leasing transaction.

I sat down for a demo with Romito and Cassandra Vitelli, senior director of product marketing. The two walked me through the workflow that a landlord would use to identify, market, and fill vacancies by using an example of one fictional landlord. See the whole demo below.

Read more: Here's a look at the tech used at SoftBank-backed real-estate brokerage Compass - including a sneak peek of beta features