US-based real estate developer Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) appointed Mihir Shah and Yishai Lerner to jointly run the company’s new corporate venturing arm JLL Technologies in 2019.
The unit was created to align and expand JLL’s technology and digital initiatives, and accelerate innovation in commercial real estate for its investor and occupier clients.
JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich said at the time of JLL Technologies’ launch: “JLL is embracing technology to meet the needs of clients today and anticipate the opportunities of tomorrow. We are reshaping the future of work and the built environment. Mihir and Yishai bring a growth mindset to JLL Technologies. Under their leadership, JLL is positioned to be a global leader in real estate technology.”
The paid had previously led the $100m JLL Spark Global Venture Fund, making a number of “bold early-stage property technology investments”, according to David Gerster, principal at the fund.
As co-CEOs of JLL Technologies, Shah and Lerner bring complementary strengths. Shah was co-founder and CEO of Mob.ly and knew Gerster as a product leader at Yahoo! and as a senior executive at Groupon. Lerner was also behind the sale of Mob.ly to Groupon after an early career building artificial intelligence for video games at Activision Studios. The two men are also angel investors and have advised – as well as invested in – a wide range of startups, including Uber and Boom Supersonic.
Both Shah and Lerner have degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
