Focus
Major CRE players fuel PropTech funding boom aimed at hybrid, remote workers
Bisnow – January 26
The PropTech boom reached record funding levels last year, fueled by venture capitalists investing in flex office technologies as they search for ways to entice workers back into offices. New figures published by PitchBook show venture investors pumped $20.5 billion into the global PropTech market last year across 974 deals, roughly $7.5 billion of which came through funding rounds backed by real estate investors, also a record high. The cash outpouring was fueled by major players in commercial real estate like CBRE, JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, and Nuveen Real Estate.
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News
Tech companies are already flipping houses — can they build them too?
NBC News - January 29
Culdesac is planning to open a 1,000-person, car-free development this year in Tempe, Arizona. The startup is part of a rising trend of tech entrepreneurs turning their attention to housing construction. Venture capitalists, who typically invest in software ideas, are taking more notice. Culdesac recently announced it had raised $30 million from investors including Silicon Valley heavyweights Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund.
Las Vegas unveils digital twin at CES as part of sustainability push
Smart Cities Dive - January 11
The city of Las Vegas has unveiled a digital twin of a seven square kilometer section of its downtown in January to help model current and future scenarios that will help it set priorities and take action to address energy use, emissions, traffic, parking, noise, and emergency management. A May 2021 report from Ernst & Young predicted that digital twins used in construction and real estate could help commercial property and infrastructure owners reduce energy consumption by up to 50% and reduce operating costs by 35%.
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Deals
Esusu becomes unicorn with SoftBank Vision Fund 2-led $130M funding
TechCrunch - January 27
More than 100 million Americans spend an average of $1,100 (over $1.4 trillion per year) on their largest monthly household spend: rent. But reports say 90% of these people don’t get credit for paying their rent on time. Esusu, a FinTech targeting immigrant and minority groups, provides rent reporting and data solutions for credit building. The company has raised $130 million in a Series B fundraising round.
Single-family management platform Pure raises $50M
The Real Deal – February 2
Pure, a single-family rental management platform, raised $50 million in its first institutional funding round, reaching a $300 million valuation in less than 18 months. The Los Gatos, California–based company has grown rapidly by acquiring small-scale property management firms — 28 of them averaging 500 doors each since its October 2020 launch.
Withco emerges from stealth with $30M to help small businesses own their real estate
Forbes – February 1
Last year, when the owner of a Pennsylvania spa decided to sell her company, she had an immediate potential buyer. Her employee was eager to take over the 22-year-old institution, but didn’t have enough capital to buy the building in addition to the company. Fortunately, she found an alternative with real estate startup Withco. On track to put 100 small-scale entrepreneurs on the path to ownership by this summer, Withco has raised $30 million from various celebrities and venture firms, including Founders Fund, Canaan Partners, Initialized Capital, and NFX.
SiteAware, which leverages AI and drones to track construction site progress, secures additional funding
VentureBeat – January 26
Construction, particularly commercial construction, is expensive and time-consuming. A growing crop of vendors are pitching software as the answer to these problems. Among them is SiteAware, a startup developing what it calls a “verification platform” for construction. In a sign of investor confidence, SiteAware announced in late January that it had raised $15 million, bringing its total capital raised to over $30 million.
JLL acquires energy-efficient PropTech company
GlobeSt.com – January 6
JLL has acquired Hank, an AI-powered, virtual engineering platform that autonomously optimizes commercial buildings’ management systems in effort to improve air quality, energy savings, and comfort. The PropTech company’s system applies machine learning and AI to solve operational challenges within the commercial real estate industry, such as HVAC programming inconsistencies and energy and equipment performance inefficiencies.
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