Real Estate Technology Ventures (RET Ventures), a Park City, UT – based early stage venture capital firm, closed its maiden fund, at $108m.
Limited partners in Real Estate Technology Ventures I include five major multifamily real estate investment trusts (REITs), Aimco, Boardwalk, Essex, MidAmerica, and UDR, as well as private owners Starwood Capital Group, Cortland, and GID.
The fund will focus on identifying and investing in real estate technology companies for the North American multifamily industry and its 40+ million rental units.
RET Ventures recently led a $5M Series A round in SmartRent, a provider of a smart apartment automation solution that enables property managers and renters to remotely monitor and control smart devices, such as locks, thermostats and light switches, property-wide.
The firm is led by Managing Director John Helm, a proven leader in venture capital, real estate and real estate technology.
He worked as CFO of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Company before building and selling two real estate technology companies: AllApartments/SpringStreet and MyNewPlace. After those exits, Helm served as a Venture Partner at DN Capital in Germany where he built an investment track record including investments in PurpleBricks and Auto1.
The team also includes Associates Tayla Martin and Alec Page, Chief of Staff Juan Nicholls, and CFO Lee Pantuso.
FinSMEs
16/11/2018