LOS ANGELES—Adam Chapnick, the first employeeand a former principal at crowdfunding siteIndiegogo, has joined the newly launched commercial real estatecrowdfunding platform AssetAvenue. Chapnick willserve as chief strategy officer for the site.

“I had such an amazing experience at Indiegogo buildingsomething from nothing,” Chapnick tells GlobeSt.com. “It was arewarding feeling to see the impact that we made on people as weprovided them something that they were never able to have accessto, in that case it was funding for whatever it was that matteredto them. When I met David Manshoory (AssetAvenuefounder and CEO) and talked to him about what they were doing, itreally resonated with me in a similar way. This is a way whereregular people can get all of the amazing benefits of participatingin quality investments without devoting the time to becoming anexpert.”

While crowdfunding in the real estate sector is becoming popularwith new companies springing up across the country, it is stillrelatively new. Chapnick plans on taking some time in this newposition to really learn the intricacies of commercial real estateinvesting and how it can be applied to the crowdfunding model. “Notonly do I plan on learning the ins-and-outs of commercial realestate construct, but much more learning the different sides of themarketplace because we serve both investors and operators,” hesays. Each of those has distinct points that we are looking tosolve.”