Era Ventures, a proptech-focused venture capital firm based in New York, recently announced the launch of its inaugural $88 million fund. The firm garnered support from a slew of institutional investors, including one of the country’s leading Ivy League Endowments, ICG Advisors, New York Presbyterian Hospital, The Ashforth Company, BentallGreenOak (BGO), Continental General Insurance Company (CGIC), Pelwood Holdings, First American, Bain Capital Ventures, Fenwick & West LLP and others.
In recent times, we have seen several VC firms close funds, including Costanoa Ventures and Avid Ventures.
Investment strategy
The VC firm will deploy the capital across multiple stages and a full spectrum of sector-focused innovations, from enablement technologies that improve existing processes to truly disruptive platforms that reshape the industry.
It has identified and actively invests in seven core business models driving change but doesn’t restrict to these sectors. These include SaaS and AI, marketplaces, embedded fintech, and hardtech ventures that leverage new technologies to optimise physical assets.
“We are proud to have invested in and to support Era Ventures in its mission to drive transformational change in the real estate sector,” said Jeff Assaf, Chief Investment Officer at ICG Advisors, one of the leading multifamily offices in the country. “We’ve seen specialist venture funds consistently outperform in similarly complex sectors like financial services and healthcare, and Era’s approach positions it to drive fundamental disruption in a massive, yet technologically lagging, industry.”
What role does it play?
The fund’s launch comes at a time when the global real estate industry estimated to be nearly $380 trillion has long resisted technological disruption. With productivity in construction rising just around 1% annually over recent decades and buildings consuming 30% of global energy, the need for innovation has never been more urgent.
Era Ventures backs visionary entrepreneurs reimagining how we build, manage, and experience physical environments. The firm invests across stages, from seed to growth, in startups poised to revolutionise this industry.
Who is behind Era Ventures?
The VC firm was founded by industry veteran Clelia Warburg Peters, a leading investor in the PropTech space since its early days. She was a co-founder of MetaProp, one of the original, strategically backed PropTech funds, and then as a Venture Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, a leading generalist venture firm.
She is an authority on innovation in the real estate category and is the first woman to raise an initial fund of this size in the category.
“I’ve seen firsthand the need for a new approach to physical world innovation that combines the creativity and quality of the generalist investing approach with the sector knowledge and relationships brought by specialist funds,” said Clelia Warburg Peters, founder and Managing Partner at Era Ventures. “Era Ventures is leveraging our unique blend of institutional backing, top-tier venture experience, and deep real estate expertise to bring both rigour and care to driving transformational change in the physical world.”
Investment portfolio
Era Ventures is building a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio of transformative startups reimagining how we build, manage, and interact with our physical environment. Currently, the firm has invested in ten companies. Its current portfolio includes the following:
- Honey Homes, a digital handyman subscription service provider.
- Latii, a cross-border construction-materials marketplace.
- Welcome Homes, a platform to manage and build custom homes online.
- Ostrich, a next-generation real estate listing service in the UK.
- Shepherd, an embedded insurance platform designed for the construction industry.
- Truehold, a single-family rental company that combines home sales and rental leases.
- Homeward, an embedded financial platform powering residential real estate transactions.
- PassiveLogic, an AI-enabled platform for autonomous buildings.
- ViaBot, a Robotics-as-a-Service facility management platform.
- Indigo, an AI-powered platform to facilitate residential real estate transactions.
“Era is not about playing it safe — we’re not just looking to digitise old processes in real estate and construction,” said Raja Ghawi, Partner at Era Ventures. “As innovation in our built world enters a new generation, we believe founders and startups will learn from their predecessors’ mistakes, bringing more transformational, efficient, and profitable businesses to market.”