Knight Frank is investing in US real estate tech venture capitalist Fifth Wall’s €100m European Real Estate Technology Fund in a bid to ensure it has “active involvement in the ever evolving proptech arena”.
The fund aims to accelerate innovation across European property sectors, replicating the success of its Fund I and Fund II, which were focused on investing primarily in US-based real estate technology start-ups.
Fifth Wall hopes to bring this same level of engagement to European start-ups, connecting them as valuable solutions to some of the European real estate market’s most pressing challenges.
Knight Frank said its investment in the fund would provide it with insights into future technology trends that are shaping the built environment and disrupting the industry.
Senior partner and group chairman Alistair Elliott said the key objective of the investment was to “ensure we have active involvement in the ever evolving proptech arena, while ensuring we are able to embrace initiatives to better improve our client service”.
Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner of Fifth Wall, added: “The collision taking place between tech and real estate is complicated and Fifth Wall was founded with the intention of helping firms like Knight Frank define and accelerate their tech adoption strategy.
“Since Fifth Wall’s inception in 2016, we have worked with North American, Asian and European real estate organisations to execute investments in, and structure partnerships with, category-leading technology companies to help ensure the ongoing health and growth of their businesses. We are excited to welcome Knight Frank as a new member of Fifth Wall’s global consortium of more than 65 corporate real estate investors from 15 countries, and we are eager to help Alistair and the Knight Frank team engage more fully with the European proptech ecosystem.”
Knight Frank’s investment in Fifth Wall is the firm’s latest play in the proptech space. Over the past five years, Knight Frank has bolstered its digital offering, ensuring it is at the forefront of innovation in real estate. Notably, the firm has made major investments into a new data centre team and geospatial mapping capabilities, as well as several successful partnerships with promising international start-ups.
“We believe that the European proptech market is on the cusp of accelerated tech adoption, and we look forward to working with Knight Frank as it embraces this change,” said Roelof Opperman, partner and co-head of Europe at Fifth Wall. “While developing a deep understanding of Knight Frank’s strategic priorities, we will also aim to facilitate connections for them with some of the most promising European proptech start-ups, resulting in both financially sound and strategically relevant outcomes.”
BNP Paribas Real Estate and Azora have already invested in the fund, which was launched last October.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
