Real estate investment platform CrowdStreet raises $43 million
Investment platform CrowdStreet, which offers an easy way for real estate firms to connect with private equity investors, has raised $43 million in Series D funding.
The Texas-based fintech has secured a mix of equity and debt funding from prominent investors, including financial services firm TIAA, which is investing through its recently launched TIAA Ventures program. Other investors participating in the round include Cypress Equity Investments, The Dinerstein Companies, Foulger-Pratt, Grotech Ventures and Seven Peaks Ventures.
It is the first time in nearly three years that the company has secured a new round of funding, and represents more than three times the amount raised in its Series C round in November 2019. CrowdStreet will use the money to improve its technology and transform both its investment experience and its investment management tools.
CrowdStreet will also expand into the wealth management channel, allowing financial advisors to support clients in adding commercial real estate to their portfolios. It follows the launch of CrowdStreet Advisors in late 2018, and its flagship fund, CrowdStreet REIT I, this year.
CrowdStreet customers and partners become investors
Tore Steen, CEO of CrowdStreet, says: “We are delighted to count so many of these leaders from across the industry as customers, partners and now, with their participation in this fundraising round, strategic investors. They know us better than anyone preferably and share our vision for the future of commercial real estate investing. With their support, we can accelerate our efforts to offer even more investment products, helping investors build their financial freedom through direct real estate investing.”
Shawn Lese, Chief Investment Officer and Head of Real Estate Funds Management Americas at Nuveen, an investment affiliate of TIAA, adds: “We have seen for several years that CrowdStreet has evolved its fintech platform to better serve sponsors of real estate projects and its community. of investors. CrowdStreet’s innovation is to modernize, demystify and streamline access to commercial real estate so that more investors have the potential to reap the benefits of investing in the asset class.”
To date, CrowdStreet has raised more than $3.6 billion for over 670 different commercial real estate projects across the United States. In 2021, it achieved its first ever billion dollar year as investors funded projects worth US$1.2 billion spanning single property deals, professionally managed funds and separately managed accounts. The firm says 138 investments have been realized so far, generating an average internal rate of return (IRR) of 17.5% and an average equity multiple of 1.5.
