Exclusive: BridgeInvest raises $280m

Fund name: BridgeInvest Specialty Credit Fund III
Amount raised: $400 million
Stage of fundraising: Final close
Final close date: September 2021
Time on the road: 13 months
Predecessor fund: BridgeInvest Specialty Credit Fund II
Number of investments to date: 14
Number of investors in the fund: 250

Miami-based real estate firm BridgeInvest has held a final close for its third real estate credit fund, the firm confirmed to PERE. Launching in August 2020, the fund raised a total of $280 million in equity commitments after 13 months in market and achieved $400 million in total capitalisation. BridgeInvest Specialty Credit Fund III will invest into senior real estate debt and the average size of transactions will be around $10 million.

Alex Horn, who founded the firm a decade ago, spoke with PERE and disclosed that the fund attracted 250 investors in total. The investor base was primarily made up of domestic and international investors that were either single or multifamily offices. The covid-19 pandemic did prove challenging to fundraising in terms of travel restrictions hindering the ability to meet face-to-face with investors. However, BridgeInvest found deal sourcing as robust as ever. Horn further disclosed that the firm was able to effectively utilize video conferencing to secure capital commitments from global investors. Since the fund’s launch and close, there have been a total of 14 transactions made, and once fully invested, Horn expects 25 or more transactions to be made in total from the fund.

In the future, Horn stated that the firm will look towards expanding the fund series further and expanding its regional appetite for investments. The firm currently focuses on mid-market lending in the southeast United States but does have plans to move into middle America to underfunded areas such as the state of Ohio.

BridgeInvest’s predecessor funds saw profitable returns with its first fund having a net IRR of 9.83 percent and its second fund having a 9.39 percent rate as of June 2020. The firm has made more than 100 transactions to date with the Specialty Credit Fund series representing 50 of those investments.