PARK CITY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Real Estate Technology Ventures (RET Ventures), an industry-backed early stage venture capital firm, announced the final close of Real Estate Technology Ventures I, a $108 million fund complex (collectively, Fund I) focused on identifying and investing in disruptive real estate technology companies for the North American multifamily industry and its 40+ million rental units. Fund I’s limited partners – which include five major multifamily real estate investment trusts (REITs), Aimco, Boardwalk, Essex, MidAmerica, and UDR, as well as leading private owners Starwood Capital Group, Cortland, and GID – own or manage nearly one million rental units – the largest single group of institutional multifamily owners in North America of its kind. This exclusive collection of investors enables the firm to provide entrepreneurs with immediate access to some of the largest multifamily and single-family operators in the US, drastically shortening the sales cycle.
The emergence of new technologies that have yet to be broadly deployed in the real estate industry has created a massive opportunity for innovation. The Fund’s limited partners represent the forefront of a $31.8 trillion industry ready to adopt cutting edge technology solutions. RET Ventures’ deep ties within the real estate industry give it a unique ability to gauge the market’s appetite for new technologies and help create market leaders.
“Our expansive network of major multifamily operators and access to capital offers clear benefits to both entrepreneurs and investors,” said RET Ventures Managing Director John Helm. “RET Ventures seeks to identify innovative companies founded by strong entrepreneurs that will help our LPs better operate their portfolios. Our deep industry expertise and relationships with some of the largest and most innovative operators in the industry can help these companies grow rapidly and achieve category leadership.”
RET Ventures is led by John Helm, a proven leader in venture capital, real estate and real estate technology. Helm worked as CFO of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Company before building and successfully selling two real estate technology companies: AllApartments/SpringStreet and MyNewPlace. After those exits, he served as a Venture Partner at DN Capital in Germany where he built a successful investment track record including investments in PurpleBricks and Auto1. Helm will leverage his industry knowledge and deep connections to help RET Ventures’ portfolio companies thrive and become category leaders.
“We’re excited to work with RET Ventures,” said Essex Property Trust President and CEO Michael Schall. “The sheer volume of companies contacting us makes it difficult to identify which new and exciting technologies will both improve our residents’ living experience and our operations. RET Ventures has created a unique win-win proposition built upon their extensive experience in real estate technology and proven ability to identify high-growth companies.”
Most recently, RET Ventures led a $5M Series A round for SmartRent. SmartRent’s smart apartment automation solution enables property managers and renters to remotely monitor and control smart devices, such as locks, thermostats and light switches, property-wide. With the help of the Fund’s LPs, the company has projected that it will grow its installed base from a handful of small pilots to over 15,000 units by year end.
Real estate tech entrepreneurs and multifamily property owners can learn more about RET Ventures and its unique position as an investor at the 2018 NMHC OPTECH Conference taking place Nov. 14-16, 2018. John Helm will be a panelist on the OpTech Openers session on Wednesday Nov 14th.
About Real Estate Technology Ventures
Real Estate Technology
Ventures (RET Ventures) is the first industry-backed early stage venture
fund focused on building cutting-edge real estate technology companies
for the multifamily industry. The Firm connects the smartest rent tech
solutions with the largest network of multifamily and single-family
rental units in North America. RET Ventures works with high quality
entrepreneurs to rapidly scale their businesses by leveraging the
knowledge and expertise of its team and limited partners, who own close
to one million units. In turn, these owners receive early access and
insight into the most effective technology solutions. For more
information, please visit www.retv.vc.
