Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Real estate company GARBE and start-up support organisation Futury have selected the first recipients of their joint fellowship programme for technology projects in the property sector.
The recipients are Timon Ivens and Robin Lais, founders of the start-up reperks, and Christoph Ehler, a doctoral researcher at the Technical University of Darmstadt who also works at the Real Estate Institute of the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
The programme will provide grants totalling €10,000. The recipients will also receive mentoring from GARBE executives for 12 months and access to Futury’s network of companies, researchers and start-ups.
Reperks is developing software to automate the preparation of service charge statements. The system is intended to process invoices, calculate charges and handle routine queries, while referring more complicated cases to employees. Several property-management companies are testing the software.
The start-up is initially concentrating on residential property. Its founders plan to examine whether the system could also be used for commercial buildings, including logistics and retail properties.
Ehler’s project uses machine learning and large datasets to estimate property values and forecast prices. The model is intended to identify factors affecting valuations and support decisions related to development, transactions and portfolio management.
GARBE said the mentoring period would focus on testing the practical applications of both projects. Futury will support the recipients as they continue developing their work for possible commercial use.
