In this episode of the PPW Podcast, Harvey Hancock and Simon Baker sit down with Owen Redman and James Buck, co-founders of Roome and winners of Pitch Club at PPW Madrid 2026.Chapters:00:00 Intro01:14 PPW Madrid 2026 recap02:38 Meet Roome, the Pitch Club winners04:20 Universities, students and scale05:46 How Roome makes money08:59 Referral fees from student accommodation operators10:35 Co-branding vs an independent brand14:00 Community, brands and the data flywheel15:31 Competing with Instagram and TikTok16:55 Keeping students engaged after the house hunt23:16 Why students would share their best spots27:00 How universities get Roome to new students31:10 Referral tokens and the liability trap34:45 When should a startup expand internationally?40:09 What a strategic investor brings beyond cash44:32 Roome's fundraising plans46:09 Simon's advice: focusRoome is a mobile app that helps UK university students find compatible housemates, compare and book accommodation, and connect with the city around them. It works with seven UK universities, has around 10,500 verified students signed up and more than 20,000 downloads. Students from 132 universities have also signed up on their own.Owen and James explain how the model works. Universities pay up front for the partnership and get data back on how their students live. Roome also earns referral fees of £500 to £2,000 per student from purpose-built student accommodation operators chasing full occupancy. They talk through why students prefer an independent brand to a university-badged app, the new community product built to keep students coming back, and plans to reward students for sharing local spots and referring friends.Simon asks the hard questions: how Roome competes with Instagram and TikTok for attention, how universities actually push the app, and why referral points can become a hidden liability. When the founders turn the tables, Simon makes the case for earning the right to grow before going abroad and explains what a strategic investor brings beyond cash. While they raise, his one piece of advice is: focus.Roome is currently raising. If you'd like to talk to the team, reach out to Owen and James via the links below.Our next conference is PPW Bangkok, 2 to 4 March 2027, starting with a special Startup Day on 2 March. Get discounted tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ppw-asia-pacific-conference-bangkok-2027-tickets-2003412809644?aff=PodcastGuests:• Owen Redman, Co-Founder at Roome: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owen-redman/• James Buck, Co-Founder at Roome: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-roome/Presented by:• Harvey Hancock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvey-hancock/• Simon Baker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stbaker/

In this week's news roundup, four of the biggest real estate portal operators report, and the story is the same everywhere: growth is coming from charging more, not from traffic or leads. Plus the disagreements hiding in the PPW Madrid transcripts, and Zillow pays $212.5m to put iBuying behind it.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:01 Realtor.com, CoStar, REA & Scout24: The Headline Numbers
06:48 What Portals Choose To Disclose
11:29 How Long Can You Keep Squeezing The Lemon?
18:40 Why No Zillow This Week?
20:23 Are Traffic Claims Worthless?
24:09 Zillow Q3 Teaser
25:22 PPW Madrid Debate: Should Portals Open Up To AI Agents?
29:11 PPW Madrid Debate: Will AI Disrupt Portals?
36:16 Quick Hits: Leboncoin, Soho & The REA Board
38:36 Zillow's $212.5m iBuying Settlement
44:04 PPW Bangkok & Wrap

Realtor.com, CoStar, REA & Scout24
Realtor.com revenue rose 5% to $160m while unique users fell 8% and leads 11%. CoStar's residential business turned a profit for the first time after the Homes.com inside sales team was cut from 655 to 267. REA Group grew revenue 11% to AUD 450m as buyer enquiries fell 33%, and Scout24 grew 19.7% with Spain contributing about half of that. Ed looks at what each company chooses to highlight, and Simon asks how long portals can keep squeezing the lemon.

Are Traffic Claims Worthless?
Only 8% of the 4,100 traffic claims in the OMP database name an arbiter you can check them against. Simon on who actually cares about traffic numbers, and why a results release is a marketing exercise aimed at investors.

PPW Madrid: The Disagreements
Should portals expose their data to AI agents, or risk becoming just another data provider? And is the disruption risk from AI close to zero, as analyst Giles Thorne argued? Simon is firmly on the minimal disruption side. Harvey sits on the fence.

Quick Hits & Zillow's Settlement
Leboncoin revives A Vendre A Louer, Eduardo Saverin backs Soho, Tracey Fellows leaves the REA Group board with Damian Eales taking her seat, and Zillow settles a shareholder lawsuit over iBuying for $212.5m.

PPW Bangkok runs from 2 to 4 March 2027, with a special Startup Day on 2 March. Get your tickets with the podcast discount.

Presented by:
• Edmund Keith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edmund-keith/
• Harvey Hancock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvey-hancock/
• Simon Baker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stbaker/

Recorded live on stage at Property Portal Watch Madrid 2026, Edmund Keith, Harvey Hancock and Simon Baker take stock of two and a half days of talks in front of more than 460 delegates from around 50 countries.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro: live from the PPW Madrid 2026 stage
01:20 Key takeaways: AI starts delivering real results
03:56 Is the industry worried enough?
05:23 Are we talking enough about business models?
09:21 Favourite presentations
12:31 Has AI raised the standard of presentations?
14:59 Pitch club winner
15:53 Thanks to the sponsors and PPW Bangkok 2027

AI is starting to show real results
With AI now through full product cycles, the conversation has moved on from language features to internal efficiency, user behaviour and perception models. The team also look at how fast new products now ship, from an app built during the conference to IMMOunited launching a full marketplace in Austria in under six months.

Is the industry worried enough?
Fear feels lower than at the last two conferences, but the panel argues the real risk is not one seismic shift. It is death by a thousand cuts, with agentic search chipping away at the core business.

Business models over technology
Consumer monetisation, pay-per-use buyer's agent AI, the end of above-inflation price rises flagged by Jefferies analyst Giles Thorne, the move towards end-to-end transaction platforms, and why mortgage businesses that buy portals tend to do better than portals that move into mortgages.

Favourite talks
Shout-outs for Sarah Wood of realestate.co.nz on brand, marketing and culture, Tilen Pigac's opening poem, Malcolm Myers' scene-setting keynote and Lukas Rose of ProperBird. Plus a theory: has AI raised the standard of conference presentations?

Pitch club and what's next
The team congratulate pitch club winner Rumi, thank the sponsors and announce PPW Bangkok on 2 to 4 March 2027 at the Carlton Hotel.

Presented by:
• Edmund Keith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edmund-keith/
• Harvey Hancock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvey-hancock/
• Simon Baker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stbaker/