Real Estate Technology

Greensoil Portfolio Company Goby Proves Attractive Acquisition Target for Conservice

Greensoil PropTech Ventures | September 03, 2021

Greensoil PropTech Ventures of Toronto on Thursday celebrated the sale of one of its portfolio companies, Goby, a Chicago-based data and invoice automation platform that helps buildings track, lower and report utility usage, to Conservice. Greensoil's investment in Goby dates to 2015 when they invested $4 million as lead of the first funding round through their Greensoil Building Innovation Fund (GBIF) and subsequently invested an additional $1 million in January 2017 and an additional $1 million in January of 2021, for a total of $6 million.

Founded in 2008, Goby is a leading environmental, social and governance (ESG) data management and reporting platform that has grown to serve hundreds of clients worldwide. Goby's users save time, mitigate risks and realize increased returns on their real estate investments, with the company's powerful software, which provides invoice automation, digitized workflows and analytics regarding a building's utility usage. Data collected by Goby's software allows building owners and operators to meet ESG-related goals and legal reporting requirements for energy usage.

Utah-based Conservice, is North America's largest utility management service. The firm pays more than $12 billion in utility bills, while serving over 5 million locations, including multi- and single-family housing and residential communities, commercial properties and student housing. Conservice has offered simplified utility management solutions since 2001.

"Greensoil PropTech Ventures congratulates Goby and Conservice," said Jamie James, Managing Partner with GSPV and a Goby board member. "Goby has excelled, for over a decade, with a powerful platform that captures and distills multiple data sources into simple, contextualized dashboards, tasks and reports. Its no wonder Goby proved an attractive acquisition given its ability to help property owners and operators cost-effectively monitor, reduce and report their buildings' energy usage."

The GSPV team has been working closely with a highly collaborative Goby management team and has two directors on Goby's board. While ESG reporting for commercial real estate was still in its nascent stages in 2015, it has become much more prominent now, leading to the space attracting highly capitalized and established incumbents to the market. This led to Goby receiving a strong acquisition offer ahead of expectations.

Conservice's acquisition of Goby comes on the heels of another Greensoil success – the sale earlier this week of 40% of its stake in Procore, which held a May initial public offering valuing the firm at $8.5 billion. Additionally, in March, Greensoil furthered its strategy of impact investing to digitize and decarbonize the built environment, with the recent launch of a $100 million (USD) fund called Greensoil PropTech Ventures Fund II. GSPV II seeks to invest in early to mid-stage companies that employ transformative property technologies in the U.S. and Canada, Europe and Israel.

GBIF is a pioneering $59 million (USD) PropTech-only venture capital fund, launched in 2015, with anchor funding from the London-based Grosvenor Group. Among other PropTech firms, it has successfully invested in companies that make smart home battery systems (ElectrIQ Power), a real estate deal management platform (Dealpath), wireless lighting controls (Amatis), carbon sequestering technology for concrete (CarbonCure) and construction management software (Procore).

ABOUT GREENSOIL PROPTECH VENTURES
Greensoil PropTech Ventures' mission is to digitize and decarbonize the built environment, the biggest asset class on the planet, which is responsible for up to 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. GSPV invests in early to mid-stage venture capital opportunities in North America, Europe and Israel that make real estate more productive, efficient and sustainable. Backed by real estate and institutional Limited Partners, GSPV has a successful track record of backing, scaling and exiting high-impact PropTech companies.

Spotlight

Spotlight

Related News

Market Outlook, Real Estate Investment

JPAR® - Real Estate Announces Acquisition of JPAR Modern Living in McAllen, Texas

PRweb | July 14, 2023

JPAR® - Real Estate, a leading real estate brokerage company, announced today the acquisition of JPAR Modern Living, a franchise affiliate located in McAllen, Texas. The acquisition represents a significant milestone in JPAR® - Real Estate, Texas’ expansion strategy. JPAR Modern Living, led by the esteemed Anna Hammad, has a stellar reputation as a trusted real estate brokerage renowned for its commitment to excellence, exceptional service, and cultivating long-term client relationships. The acquisition represents a powerful alliance, combining JPAR® - Real Estate’s corporate resources, the incredible platform built by Anna Hammad, and the tremendous growth opportunity and strategic significance of the McAllen and Rio Grande Valley markets. "The potential that the McAllen market holds is remarkable, and we view this acquisition as a catalyst for JPAR® - Real Estate’s accelerated growth in this region,” says Chris Sears, President, JPAR® - Real Estate, Texas. "Anna Hammad has built an impressive franchise over the last four years, and by bringing JPAR® - Real Estate’s corporate resources to bear on this market, we can unlock unparalleled opportunities for JPAR’s expansion.” JPAR® - Real Estate and JPAR Modern Living will benefit significantly from this acquisition. JPAR will look to establish a dedicated market leader, empowering the leader to spearhead agent recruitment, development, and retention efforts. The office will also leverage the company’s robust recruiting infrastructure, successfully recruiting over 900 agents last year. Aligned with the recently developed recruiting initiative focused on Spanish-speaking agents, JPAR® - Real Estate is also focused on lead-generation efforts for the Hispanic market. These initiatives will bolster agent diversity and better serve the community’s needs. “We are committed to providing our agents with support and opportunities for growth,” says Anna Hammad, Owner, JPAR Modern Living. “With a dedicated market leader, our agents will receive increased access to the same comprehensive training programs and mentorship that have propelled our company-owned locations to great success.” This acquisition perfectly aligns with JPAR® - Real Estate’s long-term growth strategy, which revolves around establishing a strong presence in attractive markets and empowering agents. With its robust population of nearly 900,000, the McAllen market presents immense potential. Agents joining JPAR® - Real Estate will benefit from the company’s industry-leading 100% commission model and extensive support, equipping them with the tools and choices needed to build their businesses successfully. About JPAR® Real Estate JPAR® - Real Estate is a full-service real estate brand and franchise platform offering a highly competitive transaction fee-based model and agent-centric culture. The JPAR® platform provides agents seven (7) days-per-week support, a comprehensive tech stack, marketing, lead generation, training, and mentoring. JPAR® affiliated owners benefit from compliance review, 1-on-1 consulting, recruiting support, and a peer network of influential industry leaders. The company boasts 4,000 agents operating in 65 offices across 25 states and closes $7.8B annually in sales volume.

Read More

Real Estate Technology

Tango, Leading Provider of Cloud-Based Real Estate and Facilities Management Software, Acquires WatchWire

Globenewswire | August 14, 2023

Tango, a leading provider of cloud-based real estate and facilities management software, today announced it has acquired WatchWire, an industry leader in data and analytics that helps companies reduce emissions and energy expenses while simplifying sustainability and carbon reporting. The transaction further extends Tango’s position as a global leader in the real estate and facilities management space, enabling companies to meet their energy management and sustainability goals. WatchWire’s leadership team will join Tango to continue developing and progressing these key capabilities. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. “Faced with a rapidly changing macro and regulatory environment, active sustainability and energy management has become essential to long-term organizational success,” said Pranav Tyagi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tango. “Tango has a longstanding reputation for solving the complex, location-based compliance and reporting needs of our customers, as well as helping companies effectively manage and control occupancy costs. With the addition of WatchWire, we will provide customers information that arms them to understand their environmental impact and deliver on energy and sustainability management initiatives.” Founded in 2000 and based in New York City, WatchWire provides the deepest and most comprehensive integrated energy management and sustainability platform in the industry, enabling companies to automate the collection and validation of sustainability and energy related data. Its solutions then operationalize the data for reporting, compliance and identifying additional opportunities to meet environmental, energy and climate targets. The combined business will serve over 500 customers in more than 140 countries from its primary offices in Dallas and New York. A strong relationship between owners and the users of real estate is critical to ensuring accurate, active tracking and reporting on energy and sustainability. Tango brings considerable experience to the establishment and management of that relationship through its work in transaction management, lease management and facilities maintenance, and will help bridge the communication gap between owners and operators to address their joint energy and sustainability management requirements and deliver on decarbonization objectives. “We are excited to be joining the preeminent real estate and facilities management solution in the industry,” said Andy Anderson, CEO of WatchWire. “Combining the vast amount of validated energy data available in the WatchWire platform with Tango’s real estate and facilities management capabilities will enable companies to support the accurate tracking and reporting that customers require, and operationalize insights about how to lower costs and improve sustainability. WatchWire customers will also benefit from the end-to-end real estate and facilities solution that Tango offers.” “Since our initial investment in Tango, we have been focused on adding a sustainability and energy reporting capability, as these offerings will help Tango extend its leadership position in the real estate management software market,” said Jon Nuger, a Managing Director at Berkshire Partners, which made a growth investment in Tango in 2021. “We are excited to partner with Pranav and the management team as they harness Tango’s and WatchWire’s combined capabilities to empower organizations to improve energy efficiency, enhance sustainability and reduce cost.” Harris Williams acted as exclusive financial advisor to Tango and Berkshire Partners on the acquisition of WatchWire. GrowthPoint Technology Partners, a San Francisco-based technology investment bank, acted as exclusive financial advisor to WatchWire. About Tango With hundreds of customers across more than 140 countries, Tango is the leader in Store Lifecycle Management and Integrated Workplace Management System software, delivering a single solution spanning real estate, design & construction, lease administration & accounting, facilities, desk booking, visitor and space management. About WatchWire WatchWire is a sustainability and energy management software-as-a-service provider. Across the globe, WatchWire helps commercial and corporate real estate portfolios, Fortune 500 industrial/manufacturing and big-box retail companies and government, healthcare, and educational facilities reduce emissions and expenses while simplifying sustainability and carbon reporting. About Berkshire Partners Berkshire Partners is a 100% employee-owned, multi-sector specialist investor in private and public equity. The firm’s private equity team invests in well-positioned, growing companies across technology & communications, consumer, healthcare, and services & industrials. Since inception, Berkshire Partners has made more than 150 private equity investments and has a strong history of collaborating with management teams to grow the companies in which it invests. The firm's public equity group, Stockbridge, founded in 2007, manages a concentrated portfolio seeking attractive long-term investments. The firm’s Stockbridge and Private Equity teams frequently collaborate and leverage their collective industry expertise across sectors.

Read More

Real Estate Technology

Flyhomes Enters Definitive Agreement to Acquire Assets from Home Sale Assured

Flyhomes | September 12, 2023

Flyhomes, creator of the world’s best home buying and selling experience, has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase certain assets from Innovative Holdings, LLC, doing business as Home Sale Assured, a leader in the field of ‘buy before you sell.’ Founded in early 2022 by Eric Meadow, Home Sale Assured’s flagship product is the Guaranteed Backup Contract, which empowers existing homeowners to buy their next home before closing on the sale of their current one. As part of the deal, Flyhomes will be acquiring the Home Sale Assured brand, and Meadow will be joining Flyhomes in a senior executive capacity where he’ll report to EVP of Mortgage & Closing, Dan Richards. “Eric is a seasoned mortgage professional who has built something really special with the Guaranteed Backup Contract,” said Tushar Garg, co-founder and CEO at Flyhomes. “Its ability to remove friction from the buying and selling process, while adding assurance, flexibility, and customer-centricity, aligns perfectly with our core tenants here at Flyhomes. This deal strengthens our offerings and gives us more tools to serve more customers looking for a better way to buy and sell a home.” Following the close of the deal, lender and realtor partners will be able to continue offering their customers access to the Guaranteed Backup Contract through the Home Sale Assured brand at Flyhomes. Understanding the importance of the customer-agent relationship, Guaranteed Backup Contract was designed to enhance the role of real estate agents and lenders. This ensures everyone moves in unison toward the common goals of seamlessly transitioning the customer into their new home and selling their prior home for maximum value. “We’re thrilled to be adding Eric and the Home Sale Assured brand to the Flyhomes family of products,” said Dan Richards, EVP of Mortgage & Closing at Flyhomes. “Eric brings 25 years of mortgage industry experience, from his time as President of Celebrity Home Loans (at the time a national multi-billion dollar retail lender) to his recent success as an entrepreneur at Home Sale Assured. His deep operational knowledge and network of relationships will play a key role in extending our portfolio of products nationwide.” “It’s an honor to be joining Flyhomes at such a critical point in residential real estate,” said Eric Meadow, CEO and founder of Home Sale Assured. “There remain far too many obstacles to home ownership these days, be it first-time home buyers, or in the case of Home Sale Assured, current homeowners trying to move. Consumers, agents and lenders are all looking for practical solutions to overcome these institutional challenges and Flyhomes has been at the forefront of this category. I’m ecstatic to now be able to leverage their advanced infrastructure and resources to bring the Guaranteed Backup Contract to more customers.” Benefits of the Guaranteed Backup Contract: With a valid purchase offer, a lender is able to apply standard agency guidelines to remove the departing debt obligation from the consumer’s debt to income ratio. Thus allowing the lender to approve the loan on the new home before the consumer closes on the sale of their prior home. The consumer is able to close on and move into their new home and take up to 90 days to close on the sale of their prior home. The consumer can work with a real estate agent to list their prior home for sale during this 90-day option period. If the consumer receives a better offer, they can cancel the Guaranteed Backup Contract and sell their home to the higher offer. About Flyhomes Flyhomes is building the world’s best homebuying and selling experience. Launched in 2016, Flyhomes has reinvented the homebuying and selling process at every step, making the process smoother and simpler for consumers with offerings like the Flyhomes Cash Offer and Buy Before You Sell. They back these services with a unique guarantee that gives both buyers and sellers certainty and peace of mind that is unheard of in real estate. To date, they’ve helped clients close on more than $6 billion worth of homes at prices ranging from $150,000 to $7 million.

Read More