Navitas Capital, a US-based venture capital firm that focuses on the real estate and construction industries, closed its second fund at $60m fund on Tuesday, raising capital from several corporates.
The LPs include construction materials supplier Saint-Gobain, real estate management and investment firms JLL and Divco West Real Estate Services, and apartment owner and manager Equity Residential.
Navitas targets companies in the space where energy and software meet in the construction and real estate sectors, and invests up to $5m in developers of technologies such as smart systems, energy and heat efficiency, advanced materials and workflow management software.
The firm closed its $20m first fund in 2011 and its portfolio companies include Matterport, PlanGrid and Honest Buildings. Another portfolio company, renewable chemicals producer Avantium, raised $109m when it went public in March this year.
Mihir Shah, Co-CEO of JLL’s open innovation subsidiary, JLL Spark, said: “The built world is in the early phases of a digital transformation, and JLL is committed to being a leading provider of digital service offerings.
“Having a venture capital partner with the experience and access of Navitas helps us uncover a broader set of innovation and build relationships with the most promising emerging companies in our sector.”
Navitas announced the close alongside its hiring of Gary Dillabough as its third managing partner, alongside co-founders Travis Putnam and James Pettit. Dillabough comes from VC firm Westly Group where he led its smart buildings investments.