Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
RealtyShares, an online marketplace for real estate investing recently announced it has raised more than $200 million in capital from its network of investors for residential and commercial real estate projects across the country.
RealtyShares connects more than 25,000 accredited and institutional investors with pre-vetted real estate companies and operators looking to raise equity or debt capital through its marketplace. This community of investors is using the RealtyShares marketplace to review and participate in opportunities that can cost as little as $5,000.
Nav Athwal, founder and CEO of RealtyShares said “As a leader in the online real estate investing space, this accomplishment is not only important to the team here at RealtyShares, but also to the industry as a whole. It is further proof that opening up real estate investing and capital formation through technology and bridging the gap between investors and operators has tremendous value.”
RealtyShares was founded in 2013 after the JOBS Act and has launched more than 400 investment opportunities, funding commercial and residential projects in 31 states. Since securing a $20 million Series B fundraising round led by Union Square Ventures, General Catalyst Partners and Menlo Ventures in February, RealtyShares has accelerated efforts to build a comprehensive technology driven real estate investment marketplace, resulting in the company’s growth. During the second quarter the company funded $43.6 million in investments and in August it welcomed a record 4500 new accredited investors to the platform.
A lot of the company’s growth has come from its focus on diversification, allowing investors to invest in a variety of deals on a single platform. RealtyShares relies on its expert team of real estate investment professionals to source and underwrite opportunities ranging from debt to equity and residential to commercial that investors might not otherwise have had access to.
Athwal went on to say “Online investment platforms like Real Estate are leveling the playing field for individual and institutional investors by bringing transparency and accessibility to real estate. In the past, investing in real estate was a very convoluted and reclusive process. It is a multi-trillion dollar industry and most investments are still done with pen and paper and with capital requirements in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. By marrying technology with changes in regulations under the JOBS Act, we have been able to streamline the investment process, offer greater accessibility and reduce the barrier to entry substantially. This is game changing for the real estate industry and we are excited to be at the forefront.”
