AAA Corporates help put up $90m for Pi Labs

Corporates help put up $90m for Pi Labs

UK-based property technology-focused venture capital firm Pi Labs closed its third fund at $90m yesterday with backing from a range of corporate limited partners.

Building equipment maker Kiilto and real estate developers Sellar, Aldar Properties, Sino Group, Swire Properties, Hopewell Group, Jaeger Gruppe, Embassy Group, Gaedeke, Assura, Helical, Great Portland Estates and King’s Cross Central contributed to Pi Labs Fund III.

The other LPs for the fund, which was oversubscribed from its $75m target, include APG, the investment arm of pension fund manager Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, as well as Moorfield, Elkstone Partners, Revcap and Europi.

Pi Labs concentrates on investments in technologies in areas including sustainability, the metaverse, the future of work and retail, robotics, construction, smart cities and industrial technology.

The third fund was launched in 2020 and invests across seed and series A rounds, supplying about $500,000 to $1.5m per early-stage deal, though it has also given itself the flexibility to deploy capital in later stage capital raises for promising companies.

Pi Labs said it has made 21 investments from Fund III, including a $3.4m seed round for augmented reality technology developer Dent Reality and a $2.5m seed round for intelligent warehouse management software provider Fulfilld.

Revcap made a $3.1m commitment to the fund’s $23m first close in March 2020, before Embassy Group made its contribution in May 2021.

Faisal Butt, Pi Labs’ chief executive, said: “Our fund being 40% oversubscribed positions us to deploy significant quantities of capital, alongside blue-chip institutions, into global markets where proptech startups are reshaping real estate sub-sectors prime for disruption.”

By Fernando Moncada Rivera

Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the Global Venturing Review podcast.