Austin-based Online Real Estate Brokerage REX Raises $40M More To Grow Its AI-driven Platform

REX Real Estate | November 20, 2019

REX, an Austin-based licensed residential real estate brokerage using AI and big data, has raised another $40 million in what it describes as a “C1” round. The financing, an add-on from its $45 million Series C in January, brings the startup’s total raised since its inception in late 2015 to $115 million, according to Crunchbase data. A group of private investors including Sun Microsystems co-founder and former CEO Scott McNealy; Richard “Dick” Schulze, founder of Best Buy; Gordon Segal, founder of Crate and Barrel; Amit Singhal, former SVP of search at Google, among others, contributed to that round. It is not clear if they all participated in the “C1” round as well.

Spotlight

Real estate investment requires strategic asset allocation to maximize returns. Learning the asset allocation process helps improve portfolio performance.

Spotlight

Real estate investment requires strategic asset allocation to maximize returns. Learning the asset allocation process helps improve portfolio performance.

Related News

REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT

GIC and Pagaya Technologies Extend Their Strategic Partnership for Years to Come

Businesswire | April 11, 2023

Pagaya Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: PGY) ("Pagaya"), a global technology company delivering artificial intelligence infrastructure for the financial ecosystem, with GIC, one of the world’s leading global institutional investors, announced today that they have strengthened their strategic partnership. GIC and Pagaya extended their existing funding agreement earlier this week, by which GIC invests in the Company’s financing vehicles, for an additional 3 years on top of the original 5-year term, on the same terms as the existing agreement. Additionally, last week, GIC increased its holding of PGY Class A ordinary shares to approximately 9% of Pagaya’s outstanding Class A shares as of March 31, 2023. GIC is one of Pagaya’s top shareholders and has supported Pagaya’s ability to deliver a comprehensive, one-stop solution for institutional investors to invest at scale in consumer credit and real estate assets originated by more than 25 financial institutions and growing. Pagaya is at the forefront of leveraging AI and advanced analytics to differentiate in a highly competitive environment and both GIC and Pagaya believe that building smarter financial infrastructure leads to better, more inclusive asset selection. At a time when liquidity is scarce, AI ensures the delivery of high-quality investments at scale. “GIC is pleased to continue investing in Pagaya as the company expands its financial products through the use of AI technology. With its innovative business model and differentiated performance in challenging market conditions, we believe that Pagaya is well-positioned to create long-term value for investors,” said Tzu Mi Liew, Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income and Multi Asset of GIC. “We are pleased to continue our ongoing partnership with GIC, who has played an important role in the rapid growth of our network over the past few years. As one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investment firms, GIC recognizes the power of AI technology driving future opportunity for investors and Pagaya is fortunate to have their confidence and support,” said Gal Krubiner, co-founder and CEO of Pagaya. “This is a long-term strategic relationship for us that we hope to continue for decades to come.” About GIC GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore’s financial future. As the manager of Singapore’s foreign reserves, GIC takes a long-term, disciplined approach to investing, and is uniquely positioned across a wide range of asset classes and active strategies globally. These include equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, venture capital, and infrastructure. The firm’s long-term approach, multi-asset capabilities, and global connectivity enable them to be an investor of choice. GIC seeks to add meaningful value to its investments. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC has a global talent force of over 1,900 people in 11 key financial cities and has investments in over 40 countries. Further information is available at https://www.gic.com.sg. About Pagaya Technologies Pagaya (NASDAQ: PGY) is a global technology company making life-changing financial products and services available to more people nationwide. By using machine learning, a vast data network and a sophisticated AI-driven approach, Pagaya provides comprehensive consumer credit and residential real estate solutions for its partners, their customers, and investors. Its proprietary API and capital solutions integrate into its network of partners to deliver seamless user experiences and greater access to the mainstream economy. Pagaya has offices in New York and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit pagaya.com.

Read More

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT, MORTGAGE AND LENDING

NexPoint Launches Fourth Self-Storage DST Offering with Three Premium Assets

PRnewswire | April 18, 2023

NexPoint, a multibillion-dollar alternative investment firm, today announced the launch of NexPoint Storage IV DST, a Delaware statutory trust ("DST") offering comprised of three Class A, GenerationV ("GenV") assets in submarkets with high levels of growth and average household income in the Phoenix, Arizona and St. Petersburg, Florida metropolitan statistical areas ("MSAs") NexPoint Storage Partners, Inc. acquired the assets for inclusion in NexPoint Storage IV DST, which aims to raise $70.3 million. The assets are managed by Extra Space Storage and offer revenue and value growth potential in two of Arizona and Florida's MSAs. Extra Space is the largest third-party self-storage manager in the U.S., with over 1,200 properties under management for third parties and managed joint ventures across 40 states. "We are very excited to launch NexPoint Storage DST IV with ownership in three premium assets in two MSAs that are among the top 10 fastest growing in the U.S. and in one of the fastest-growing sectors in the commercial real estate space" said John Good, CEO of NexPoint Storage Partners. "We believe this is a terrific opportunity for accredited investors to gain exposure to the self-storage sector." Two of the assets are located in the Phoenix MSA, which has a population of nearly 5 million. Phoenix has experienced rapid employment growth as high-tech companies like Intel Corp., General Dynamics, and Honeywell set up larger operations in the Phoenix MSA, in turn making Phoenix one of the popular destination cities for millennial migration. The third asset is located in the St. Petersburg area, which is the third-largest MSA in the southeastern U.S. with a population of 3 million. Population in the area – which includes the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg – has grown nearly 14% since 2011. According to the Self Storage Assocation, the self-storage sector has been the fastest-growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the last 40 years. The demand for self-storage continues to strengthen as healthy job growth, rising wages, increased mobility and the formation of new households support the need for self-storage. Nationally, the self-storage sector experienced double-digit revenue and net operating income growth in 2021 and 2022 and has entered 2023 with continued strong customer demand and historically high occupancies per S&P Global Market Intelligence. These assets continue NexPoint's growth in the self-storage sector. NexPoint's self-storage platform was developed from the ground up with entrepreneurial developers having substantial experience in selecting, acquiring, and entitling sites for self-storage development. Today, the platform is comprised of an investment portfolio, including wholly-owned and managed vehicles and DSTs, valued in excess of $2 billion. About NexPoint NexPoint is a multibillion-dollar alternative investment firm comprised of a group of investment advisers and sponsors, a broker-dealer, and a suite of related investment vehicles. NexPoint provides differentiated access to alternatives through a range of investment solutions, including public and private real estate investment trusts, tax-advantaged real estate vehicles, merger arbitrage and event driven strategies, other private real estate investments, open-end and closed-end funds, interval funds and a business development company. NexPoint is based in Dallas, Texas and is part of a network of affiliates with expertise across the asset management and financial services spaces. For more information, visit nexpoint.com. About NexPoint Storage NexPoint Storage is a real estate investment platform that specializes in the self-storage sector. A product of NexPoint's 2020 acquisition of Jernigan Capital, NexPoint Storage invests in newly built, multi-story, climate-controlled, Class-A self-storage facilities—known as "Generation V" facilities—located in dense and growing markets throughout the U.S. NexPoint Storage acquires and selectively develops GenV self-storage facilities. The platform leverages resources and expertise across NexPoint, especially in the areas of real estate financing, product strategy, and distribution. For more information, visit nexpointstorage.com.

Read More

REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY, MORTGAGE AND LENDING

Rent. Group, Inc. Announces Rent. Lease360°™, a Unique Solution to Lease-Up Marketing

Businesswire | May 15, 2023

Rent., a leading provider of integrated marketing solutions to the multi-and single-family rentals industry, today announced the launch of Rent. Lease360°, a 360-degree, turn-key offering designed specifically for low occupancy and new lease-up situations. Rent.’s newest solution is a comprehensive yet flexible way for modern multifamily marketers to build integrated, omnichannel marketing for properties during pre-lease, rebrand and renovation life cycles and debuts at the Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference (AIM) in Huntington Beach, Calif., May 7-10, 2023. More than 455,000 multifamily units were constructed from January 2022 through March 2023, according to non-seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The same data reports over 900,000 units currently under development and an additional 160,000 units authorized. “As multifamily development increases across the nation, it’s critical for new communities to establish themselves within a competitive market,” explained Jon Ziglar, CEO of Rent. “Property management companies and owners must effectively market their new properties to deliver a successful lease-up period from pre-construction to stabilization. With Lease360°, they can now bridge this critical phase with one partner, not five or six, increasing the impact of every marketing dollar spent and reducing administrative costs and hassle.” Anchored by RentMarketplace.’s massive consumer reach, Rent. Lease360° is powered by first-party data, supported by a dedicated marketing strategist and represents a flexible yet comprehensive solution. This is the product of extensive research on the unique needs of multifamily properties that are in lease-up mode from pre-lease to stabilization. As part of Rent.’s extensive network, which includes Redfin.com, Realtor.com, Rent.com, ApartmentGuide.com and Rentals.com, Rent. Lease360° allows clients to flex their marketing efforts across various channels to best match the current needs of the property — all within a single solution. “Rent. is uniquely positioned to address the challenges of new multifamily construction, as well as any rebrand or renovation, by creating a 360-degree lease-up program leveraging our omnichannel marketing platform and utilizing first-party data to deliver the right people to their property on time,” Ziglar added. According to Kathy Neumann, CMO of Rent., Rent. Lease360° provides a customized and integrated marketing approach that optimizes investments across all major channels, including customized ILS, search, social, e-mail, geofencing and more, to attract potential renters to your property. “We are proud to bring this unmatched solution to market at a crucial moment for the industry,” Neumann said. “We know developers are in great need of a turnkey solution to actively market and manage their communities. A website and ILS listing simply won’t cut it in 2023 as the new generation of renters are seeking information across an increasingly fragmented marketing landscape.” This latest innovation represents another first for Rent., which recently launched the multifamily industry’s only automated solution for TikTok advertising and is the first and only rental marketplace network to provide access to two of the country's largest real estate sites, Redfin.com and Realtor.com. About Rent. Rent. is a two-sided marketing platform that simplifies the entire renter experience by matching the right property with the right renter, at the right time. Through the Rent. network of websites, mobile apps and partnerships, Rent. clients can reach over 350 million site visits per month. In addition, Rent. services the property side of the market with scaled marketing solutions such as search engine marketing, lead nurturing through chatbots and client automation tools, and reputation management through ratings and reviews, as well as social media monitoring and marketing. This, paired with advanced search filtering and an optimized consumer app and site experience, enables Rent. to offer renters an ideal home-finding experience. Rent. exists to help people find the perfect place. Rent. is operated by Rent Group Inc., a subsidiary of Redfin Corporation.

Read More