First, congratulations to the Fifth Wall Ventures team on their capital raise ($212M) and, secondly, it's great that they're focusing on realestatetech. With real estate being the largest industry in the U.S. the two founders of Fifth Wall noticed that the real estate sector vastly under spends on technology. So, sitting around Silicon Beach (Santa Monica.....surfs up) the fund will invest in technology for the "built world". This opens up a whole new sector of fintech and innovation. Brilliant guys and good luck.
(Bill Taylor/CEO)
Real estate is the largest industry in the United States, comprising 14 percent of GDP. Yet the sector spends way less on technology than other industries do — just half a percent of revenue compared to the average 3.5 percent.
With lifetimes of experience in real estate, Brendan Wallace and Brad Greiwe saw an opportunity, founding Fifth Wall Ventures last year to invest in technology for the “built world.”
The Silicon Beach company, launching out of stealth today, has raised a $212 million first fund from some of the largest real-estate companies in the world, including CBRE, Equity Residential, Hines, Host Hotels & Reosrts, Lennar, Macerich and Prologis, as well as Lowe’s Home Improvement and Rudin Management Company.
Wallace and Greiwe define the “built world” as the ecosystem of companies that own and operate physical spaces as well as the startups developing technologies that will transform those spaces. Think Airbnb or WeWork.
Fifth Wall has already invested $60 million in a handful of upstarts and set them up with their limited partners.
For example, b8ta, a software-powered retailer that operates showrooms where consumers can try out new technology, partnered with mall owner Macerich to open a location at Santa Monica Place with plans for five more stores at top-performing shopping centers. B8ta also has pop-up shops in select Lowe’s locations..."
Source: BizJournals