Greg Smithies has left his partner position at Germany-headquartered carmaker BMW’s investment arm, BMW i Ventures, to head up a fund for US-based venture capital firm Fifth Wall.
Fifth Wall invests in real estate technology developers and closed a $503m second fund in July 2019 with backing from 50 corporate limited partners, before securing $100m for a retail-focused vehicle in February this year.
Smithies will manage the firm’s Climate Tech fund, which will target developers of technology that can help decarbonise the real estate industry. It has a target of at least $200m for its close, according to TechCrunch.
The move comes after a stint heading up climate investing at BMW i Ventures, which Smithies joined in 2019. He said in a blog post: “Fifth Wall has built a consortium of 60-plus of the world’s most sophisticated owners, operators, and construction industry corporations.
“The leverage we can bring to the startups we invest in to help get their products distributed and installed globally in this industry is massive, and truly difficult to match.”
Photo of Greg Smithies courtesy of Fifth Wall.