Tishman Speyer collects first commitments for $150m debut proptech fund

Tishman Speyer has raised around $100 million at the first close of its debut proptech fund: Tishman Speyer Proptech Venture Fund, PERE can reveal.

The New York-headquartered manager is looking to raise up to $150 million for the vehicle, which entered the market in late 2021.

The firm garnered anchor commitments from two of the world’s biggest institutional investors: the National Pension Service of Korea and Investment Management Corporation of Ontario. They will make up a significant portion of committed capital, chief executive officer Rob Speyer told PERE. Both investors have longstanding relationships with the firm.

The NPS capital will come from the NPS-Tishman Speyer Thematic Platform, a separately managed account the pair launched last year, Speyer said. Around $1 billion was earmarked for four strategies in that vehicle, including early stage proptech.

Meanwhile, IMCO’s most recent partnership with Tishman was in 2019, when they formed a joint venture with an initial commitment of $500 million. The JV focused on the development and acquisition of office and residential properties in the US.

Tishman’s fund becomes the largest potential proptech raise this year in North America. It is also on pace to become the third $100 million-plus vehicle in the sector this year, following the raises of Fifth Wall’s European Real Estate Technology fund in February and the open-end Taronga Ventures. The Australian firm has closed on $170 million in capital for RealTech Ventures I from institutions including PGIM Real Estate and Ivanhoé Cambridge, and is hoping it will hit its $200 million hard-cap in April this year.

In terms of investment in the sector, a record $32 billion was deployed last year, according to the Center for Real Estate Technology & Innovation.

“We are at the very beginning of a technology revolution that is impacting everything about our industry,” Speyer said.

Tishman is focused specifically on early investing in technology firms, with the “vast majority” of capital earmarked for Series A and Series B funding rounds. More than half the capital deployed in the space last year was in Series C, Series D or later stages of funding, per CRETI data. Around 20 percent was in Series A and 18 percent in Series B, by comparison.

The firm has been investing in the space since 2017 and has completed 19 investments to date. It invests primarily from its balance sheet, Speyer said.

Its existing investments run the gamut from software to hardware and provide solutions for both internal operations and property-level technology. Tishman has so far invested in firms including OpenSpace, a photomapping software designed to reduce risks in construction; VTS, a leasing and asset management software; Agora, a materials e-commerce platform for subcontractors in the construction industry; and Latch, a company that makes smart locks. Latch was the first time Tishman took in outside capital, raising retail capital via a special acquisition company last year.

Tishman plans to continue the varied approach to deployment, choosing to focus on any technologies that it can also use. Virtually every company Tishman has invested in has been used by one of its operating teams, Speyer said, adding that has enhanced the returns of its proptech investments, as well as its real estate investments.

“Each of the technologies have led to improvements in our business,” Speyer said. “It’s very complementary. The returns are not just financial, it also creates terrific value for our real estate assets because it positions them at the front of the market.”

Tishman Speyer’s six-person venture capital operations are overseen by Jenny Wong, senior managing director, who has been with the firm since 2015 and also serves on the investment committee.