Cycle Ticking Clock Shows Search for Yield

SAN FRANCISCO—Real estate investment technology provider Juniper Square recently announced $25 million in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital, a financial technology VC firm. Ribbit joins Felicis Ventures, Zigg Capital and other real estate investors participating in the round.

Juniper Square began with $2 million in seed funds. This latest investment brings the total funding to date to $33 million after the Series A funding of $6 million one year ago. The company will use the funds to further accelerate the adoption of its software solution.

“At Ribbit, we look for technology companies that have the potential to change the topography of financial markets,” said Nick Shalek, general partner at Ribbit Capital. “Real estate is the world’s biggest asset class, yet it’s highly inefficient and remains largely inaccessible. Juniper Square is rapidly becoming the system of record for private commercial real estate, bringing the promise of modern technology along with it. The opportunity is enormous.”

In the past year, Juniper Square has added more than 150 investment firms as customers, including Gaw Capital, PCCP LLC, Rockpoint Group, Rockwood Capital, Stockbridge Capital and Tishman Speyer.

Founded in 2014, Juniper Square’s software automates one of the most critical business functions for investment managers: raising and managing outside capital. Juniper Square is now used to manage nearly 10,000 real estate investments, and more than $50 billion in capital is being raised across nearly 500 active offerings on Juniper Square.

“Our mission is to transform the world’s private capital markets through software,” said Alex Robinson, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “This investment by Ribbit Capital, the leading fintech investor known for spotting disruptive companies in their early stages, is a testament to the strength of our long-term plans for Juniper Square. We see an opportunity to digitize a multi-trillion dollar asset class, bringing it online and out of spreadsheets, and this additional capital will enable us to do more faster on behalf of our customers.”

Robinson said at this point of the business cycle, clients are focusing on how to get more yield.

“Roughly 18 to 20% are in the traditional value-add category and 6% are in open-end funds with an appetite for yield,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “It is a ticking clock where you have to sell but some investors want to hold and are focusing on evergreen strategies.”

Preqin offers these institutional investing insights: out of the 178 real estate funds screened by each institutional investor per year, only two ultimately earn new commitments. And, more than a third of North America-focused capital allocated to managers in 2017 went to the 10 largest real estate funds.