Proptech fund totals more than $1 billion
Fifth Wall, a venture capital firm focused on proptech technologies for the global real estate industry, has recently closed its second real estate technology fund.
The proptech firm said that the oversubscribed $503 million Fund II more than doubled the size of Fifth Wall’s initial fund, which closed in May 2017 at $212 million.
Fifth Wall also said it raised $503 million for its new proptech fund from the largest owners, operators, and developers of real estate globally.
While Fifth Wall’s first fund was raised from nine strategic real estate investors in the U.S. only, the firm’s new fund attracted interest from over 50 corporate strategic investors from 11 countries, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to over $1 billion.
Some of the investors participating in Fund II include Gecina in France, MERLIN Properties in Spain, British Land and SEGRO in the UK, Kenedix and Mitsubishi Estate in Japan, Keppel Corporation in Singapore, and many in the United States, including CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, D.R. Horton, Equity Residential, Essent, Hines, Host Hotels & Resorts, Hudson Pacific Properties, Lennar, Macerich, Marriott International, MetLifeInvestment Management, News Corp, PulteGroup, Starwood Capital, Related Companies, and Toll Brothers.
“As the real estate and technology industries increasingly converge, Fifth Wall has become central to that convergence, fostering a level of strategic collaboration that has never before characterized the real estate industry,” said Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner at Fifth Wall. “Fifth Wall sees powerful network effects in our unique fund model as it becomes a centralized platform for the world’s largest real estate companies to share insights and access new technologies to enhance their businesses.”
“We’re constantly looking for new real estate services and technologies to improve the way we develop and manage our residential and commercial properties in France,” said Méka Brunel, CEO, Gecina. “We partnered with Fifth Wall to help us anticipate what’s ahead, and connect us with ideal partners and technologies so we can deliver the best solutions for our customers.”
“We’re committed to identifying and partnering with organizations that can help us develop the next generation of technology solutions for our clients, our colleagues, and the built environment,” said Brett White, executive chairman and CEO at Cushman & Wakefield.
Fifth Wall has built a nine-person strategic consulting team dedicated to helping its real estate investors address the strategic and operational challenges of new technology adoption and to help structure partnerships, integrations, contracts, and distribution deals. The team works closely with its corporate strategic investors to support Fifth Wall’s investments in companies like Opendoor, Lime, Hippo, VTS, and Industrious.
Fifth Wall’s Fund II claims to be the largest active venture capital fund in the Los Angeles area. The company has grown from eight employees at the time of its initial fund close in May 2017 to more than 30 employees today.
