Women in PropTech: From Participation to Influence
Infinityy’s CEO, Lisa Nickerson, recently sat down for an interview with Phil Russo at Commercial Observer about real estate and technology are headed—and who is shaping that future. The key question: are women as present in PropTech as they are in the rest of real estate? The short answer is – not yet. Lisa connects with Phil about how quickly that’s changing, and how much influence women in her proptech ecosystem are having across the country.
Industry Contradictions
Lisa’s recent appointment as CEO of Infinityy comes at a moment that highlights a striking contradiction to current proptech norms. While female-led companies consistently outperform on ROI and revenue, fewer than 10% of U.S. proptech firms have a female CEO.
This gap sits at the intersection of two historically male-dominated arenas: real estate leadership and venture-backed technology. While women have long played a critical role in residential real estate, leadership representation in PropTech has lagged behind.
The Women Leading the Way
Despite the gap, there are clear signals of momentum and leadership.
Lisa highlighted how Infinityy’s partnership with Miami Realtors is a prime example. Under the leadership of Teresa King Kinney and Liz Sturrock, Miami Realtors has become one of the most forward-thinking MLS organizations in the country, actively embracing innovation and new technology platforms.
The broader PropTech ecosystem is also evolving. Following conversations with leaders like Ashley Stinton of Second Century Ventures and its REACH accelerator programs, it’s clear that access and visibility for emerging technologies are expanding.
Are Women Gaining Ground?
Women are increasing their participation in venture funding, now approaching roughly 27% of VC dollars across startups overall.
And culturally, momentum is building. At SXSW this year, Lisa observed a growing presence of women-led programming and communities, including organizations like The Female Quotient, which are reshaping access, visibility, and leadership pipelines.
The Headwinds That Remain
While progress is real, structural challenges persist:
- Access to capital
- Women-only founding teams still receive a disproportionately small share of venture funding.
- Network effects
- Both venture capital and real estate leadership remain deeply relationship-driven—and historically male-dominated—making access to key opportunities uneven.
A Shift in the Conversation
But something important is changing. The conversation is moving away from whether women are participating to how they are influencing outcomes.
Lisa’s perspective reflects this shift. What sets her and other leaders apart is more than representation, it’s mainly expertise:
- Deep understanding of agents, brokers, buyers, and sellers
- A macro view of how market trends drive technology adoption
- The ability to translate real-world workflows into scalable platforms
Research supports this evolution. Nearly 40% of unicorn founders are non-technical, reinforcing that market insight, business acumen, and customer understanding are just as critical as engineering talent. Diverse leadership teams, those that combine technical, operational, and market expertise, consistently outperform.
What Comes Next
As more women leaders and the growing ecosystem around them continue to shape how technology is built, funded, and deployed, the future of PropTech will be defined less by who gets a seat at the table, and more by who is driving the conversation forward.
At Infinityy, that’s exactly where we intend to be.