Pioneering proptech VC, Pi Labs, has announced the first close of its third funding round.
This is the first milestone for Pi Labs’ $75m fund, which it expects to have fully raised by the end of 2020. The calibre of investors participating is a mark of the growing appetite for investment into European proptech via specialist VC managers.
The funding has been achieved through a commitment of institutional capital from leading real estate investment companies including FTSE-listed Great Portland Estates PLC, FTSE-listed Assura PLC, PATRIZIA AG, among the top 10 real estate investment managers in Europe and pan-European real estate fund manager Revcap, as Pi Labs raises its largest fund to date.
Launched in 2014, Pi Labs is Europe’s longest standing proptech VC, with an industry-leading track record across 43 investments.
Pi Labs invests in start-ups that use technology solutions to enhance any stage of the real estate value chain. Key areas of focus for the current fund include sustainability, future of work, future of retail, commercial real estate technologies, construction technology, and smart cities.
Faisal Butt, CEO, Chairman and Founder of Pi Labs, said: “The success of our first close of Fund 3 firmly cements our position as one of the leading European proptech VCs. It is testament to the continued appetite for institutional capital to be invested into proptech.”
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“We look forward to working with Great Portland Estates, Revcap, Assura and PATRIZIA as our first committed strategic investors. Our plan is to continue to build on the thriving proptech ecosystem we have created in Europe, which will help some of the world’s best proptech founders to scale and become global firms.”
Robin Matthews, Investment Director at GPE, said: “As experts in identifying opportunities for investment into Proptech Pi Labs is the perfect strategic partner for our investment strategy. We have committed to participating in Fund 3 as we understand the profound impact and variety of benefits technology can bring to the real estate industry.”
Dr. Manuel Käsbauer, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at PATRIZIA, commented: “We are excited to be partnering with Pi Labs to jointly nurture the next generation of proptech enterprises.
Our investment into the Pi Labs Fund 3 closely aligns with our endeavours to further strengthen PATRIZIA’s global innovation ecosystem and identify new solutions, which will help further improve the services we provide to our clients.”
Pi Labs will continue to capitalise on its fast-growing accelerator programme with a batch of new investments set to be revealed later this quarter. The company expects to make 10 new investments in 2020.
