US-based early-stage venture capital firm Real Estate Technology Ventures (RET Ventures) has closed its first fund at $108m with commitments from real estate investment trusts Aimco, Boardwalk, Essex Property Trust, MidAmerica and UDR.
Real estate investment holding companies Starwood Capital Group, Cortland and GID have also backed the fund. Between them, the limited partners own or manage almost 1 million rental units.
RET Ventures will focus on real estate technology developers that can help the fund’s investors manage their portfolios more easily. Startups will be able to tap into the expertise and networks of the limited partners to accelerate their growth and achieve market leadership.
The firm is led by John Helm, a former venture partner at VC firm DN Capital who had previously built and sold two real estate technology companies: AllApartments/SpringStreet and MyNewPlace.
The fund has already invested in four companies, most recently leading a $5m series A round for US-based smart home automation platform SmartRent last week.
The round brought SmartRent’s total funding to more than $10m, it said. RET had already led a $1.5m seed round for the company in May this year.
SmartRent’s platform is aimed at landlords of multi-dwelling properties, offering features such as full property access control and surveillance, thermostat control, leak detection and power monitoring.
