US-headquartered, real estate-focused venture capital firm Fifth Wall has closed a €140m ($159m) European fund with backing from several corporate limited partners.
Financial services firm BNP Paribas’ Real Estate subsidiary is among the LPs, as are property developers Aldar Properties, Damac Group, Gestilar, Inmobiliaria Colonial, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Momeni Group, Neinver and Segro.
The list was filled out by real estate managers PGIM Real Estate and Redevco, estate agency Knight Frank and real estate asset managers Tramway Capital, Merlin Properties and Conren Tramway as well as Azora Capital, Pecunia, Pontos Group and affiliates of Northwood Investors.
Fifth Wall concentrates on the real estate technology space and has accumulated some $3bn in capital and commitments since it was founded in 2016. It also offers portfolio companies access to some 90 investment partners worldwide, several of which have also backed it as LPs.
The model has helped the firm grow but could hypothetically be extended to other industries besides real estate, with groups of corporates in essence outsourcing their VC scouting activities to an established firm.
Segro’s chief financial officer, Soumen Das, said: “We look forward to continuing our relationship with Fifth Wall through our new investment into its European Fund, following our original investment in its Fund II in 2018.
“Fifth Wall’s leading platform and deep market knowledge has delivered valuable insights into the proptech market and emerging technologies.”
Redevco business development director Patrick Brenninkmeijer added: “The value of being invested in Fifth Wall’s European Real Estate Technology Fund is the early exposure to transformative proptech solutions and the guidance of the Fifth Wall team in exploring new ways to solidify Redevco’s business model.
“The great appetite for the fund underlines the importance of technological innovation for the real estate industry.”
The European vehicle will expand the range of a portfolio which has thus far been predominantly North American, and will offer co-investment opportunities for LPs.
The fund is investing at series A to C stage and has already backed on-demand grocery provider Gorillas’ $1bn series C round and a $518m round for property-buying tool developer Clikalia in recent months.
Roelof Opperman and Miguel Nigorra are overseeing the fund out of a London office. Opperman has been a partner at Fifth Wall since 2017 while Nigorra joined as a vice-president in 2019, moving to principal later that year and partner in January 2021.
