Creating value through innovation in real estate: A conversation with Thylander CEO, Bjarke Mikkelsen
– By Stine Grønnegaard, Communications Lead, PropTech Denmark
The intersection of technology, regulatory demands, and real estate is transforming the industry at an unprecedented pace, rendering old spreadsheets obsolete and bringing about a need for a much more strategic approach to digitisation across the real estate ecosystem. With a declared goal of finding 1-2 new partnerships through the Nordic PropTech Awards ecosystem, Thylander is leaning into a new strategic involvement in the proptech ecosystem.
Joining Thylander as CEO just before the summer, Bjarke Mikkelsen has stepped into the real estate scene at a time of significant transformation. Bringing a tech-savvy perspective to an industry undergoing rapid change, I had the opportunity to sit down with him to find out more about his vision for integrating proptech into real estate and Thylander's strategic role in this rapidly evolving space. With a portfolio of 150 properties and AUM of 12 billion DKK, Thylander certainly is in a position to create real impact.
In alignment with Thylander’s broader strategy of driving innovation through technology, they have taken a prominent position in the Nordic PropTech Awards 2025 as a programme sponsor.
Creating value through innovation
I asked Bjarke about the value and goals behind Thylander's involvement in this initiative, as well as the company's membership in PropTech Denmark.
“When you think about how fintech has transformed the way people manage payments and finances around the world, it’s obvious that there is so much more potential for proptech.
Innovation in the real estate industry is not only a big opportunity – I believe it’s absolutely necessary to drive economic and social value while reducing the negative impact on the environment. Doing more of the same is simply not going to get us there, and that’s why we have made ‘value creation through innovation’ a core pillar of our strategy at Thylander.
We already see an increase in advanced services that can improve supply chain efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and improve tenant experiences, and much more. By integrating these technologies, we are confident that we can achieve optimised, high-performing properties and deliver the best returns over time.”
The potential is exciting. But is it scalable?
The potential for innovation in real estate is indeed exciting. As exciting as these innovations are, their true potential lies in their scalability. Given Thylander’s strong commitment to fostering technological advancements, I was curious to learn more about how the company plans to support the proptech community – and why this is important.
“Our goal with this partnership [Nordic PropTech Awards] is to support innovative technological solutions by integrating the best solutions into our daily operations. We believe these technologies have the potential to significantly improve our supply chain and drive greater efficiency across all aspects of our business.”
With so many emerging technologies and innovations in the real estate industry, I asked Bjarke about which opportunities he finds most exciting – and the potential obstacles to implementing these solutions.
“I’m excited about a lot of things – I think that’s the challenge for most CEOs. You hear the pitch and think ‘wow, that’s cool, we should do that’.
But to decide where to invest our resources I try to assess the strategic fit and scalability of the solution. It's easy to find small things to do here and there, but my goal is to identify structural solutions that we can implement systematically to improve productivity and impact – that makes me more excited than the product itself.
As I see it, the challenge of accelerating implementation is mostly determination and willingness to change. There are lots of practical challenges, but that’s the same for any new initiative. If it were easy, someone else would have already done it.”
It seems the excitement is tempered by a strategic approach to adoption. By acknowledging the challenges of determining where to invest resources, you also have an eye for the real obstacles – especially the very human resistance to change. In the Danish PropTech Report 2024, digitisation and new technologies are in the top 5 of overall challenges in real estate, while lack of skills, and resistance from within organisations are cited as key challenges in implementing digital solutions.
This might lend some insight into why good change management really matters, and why getting the strategy right helps pave the way for better processes and outcomes.
Commitment to building at least 30% below regulatory demands
To gain a deeper understanding of how these strategies play out in practice, I asked Bjarke to share some concrete examples of successes or challenges Thylander has faced in integrating proptech into their operations.
“One thing we are proud of is our commitment to build at least 30% below Danish Building Regulations for CO2 equivalent intensity in our residential development fund. Achieving this while creating a unique and liveable environment, high technical quality of the buildings, and still delivering great returns to our investors is only possible through countless small improvements and diligent implementation.
Our goal is that in the 3-6 months after the Nordic PropTech Awards, we can announce 1 or 2 strategic partnerships with leading players of solutions that drive systematic improvement in productivity and impact.”
With ambitious goals as a testament to a commitment to innovation, it will be interesting to see how the improvements and implementations can exemplify the very real-world, actionable impact of Thylander’s strategic approach.
Getting the ambitions right. And then just start somewhere
To round off our conversation, I asked Bjarke about his personal sources of inspiration, as well as how these influences shape his vision for the future of real estate.
“Lex Fridman recently did an episode with Elon called ‘Neuralink and the Future of Humanity’ that was incredibly inspiring. Not so much because of the Neuralink product itself, but because of his approach to challenges that to others seem overwhelmingly big. To fundamentally start changing the real estate industry for the better, we need to get the ambitions right - and to start somewhere.”
In summary, Bjarke and Thylander’s commitment to innovation, strategic partnerships, and sustainability positions the company at the forefront alongside those shaping a smarter, more efficient, and impactful future for the real estate industry.
Sources
Find out more about the Nordic PropTech Awards here
Danish PropTech Report available here
Lex Fridman podcast & transcript available here
