“Ed's wealth of experience in both real estate and capital markets and his enthusiasm for the RealtyShares' approach will prove invaluable as the company continues to disrupt the space through the use of smart tech, big data and machine learning. We are thrilled to welcome him to the RealtyShares board of directors,” said Niko Bonatsos, managing director at General Catalyst, tells GlobeSt.com.

Forst oversaw 16,000 real estate professionals in 60 countries at Cushman & Wakefield. Along with leasing office space and managing building operations, the firm appraised more than $1 trillion in commercial opportunities annually. He joined the firm after 16 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as a partner. He also chaired the firm's global underwriting committee for seven years and led the development of the firm's $2 billion global headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

“Ed has a perfect mix of operating experience, as CEO at Cushman & Wakefield, and tremendous connections in the capital markets world owing to his time at Goldman Sachs,” said Realty Shares CEO Nav Athwal. “Not to mention he is a great mentor and strong believer of what we're doing here at RealtyShares. Our company sits at the intersection of technology, real estate and capital markets, so Ed is going to be a pivotal board member and will help strengthen the legitimacy of our business model with lenders, institutions and other high-powered real estate incumbents.”

In addition to capital partners such as CBRE along with hedge funds, insurance companies and family offices, a key focus for the company in 2017 is to broaden its reach into the institutional capital markets. Athwal believes Forst will make a significant contribution to that effort.

Forst will also be a member of the RealtyShares advisory board, comprised of several industry veterans. These advisors have decades of experience and should complement the company's deep roster of real estate experts.

Joe Azelby─senior partner of Apollo's real assets business and the former CEO of JPMorgan's global real assets group, where he led a team of 400 investment professionals and investments worth in excess of $60 billion.

Keri Findley─A former partner and chief credit officer at Third Point, a $15 billion hedge fund.

Gerald Fogelson─Founder and CEO of the Fogelson Group of Companies.

Across all product types, RealtyShares has helped raise more than $300 million across 550 investment opportunities in 35 states. Since March, it has helped raise capital for several commercial deals, including $3 million in debt for Rincon Partners, $3.5 million in equity for Avesta and $5.9 million of debt and equity funding for Hamilton Real Estate Capital, potentially the first full stack capital transaction by a crowdfunding platform.

“The process for getting a loan or equity capital for a commercial project is very time-consuming and complex in the offline world, and that is what we're changing with RealtyShares,” said Athwal. “Not only are we striving to be the fastest provider of capital for real estate, but we also want to do it in a way that delights our customers at every touch point. This mindset has not been integrated into the real estate investing and fundraising process on a wide scale, so we are proud to be at the forefront of doing that.”

SAN FRANCISCO—One of the online marketplaces for real estate investing, RealtyShares has become a capital partner for commercial developers, providing a quicker process for debt or equity capital. This is thanks in part to a business model that pairs institutional capital with more than 100,000 registered investors of multimillion-dollar commercial transactions.

During the scaling process, the company caught the attention of commercial real estate and investment management players. One recent example is Edward Forst, former president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, who will be joining the real estate technology startup as the newest member of the company's board of directors.

“After leading capital markets and investing businesses empowered by the finest tech teams, it was a shock to see how starved real estate has been for technology advancement,” said Forst. “People didn't think technology could penetrate real estate, but more and more it is finding its way into key markets and RealtyShares is at the forefront of that infiltration. With a sophisticated team of professionals at the helm, both CEO Nav Athwal, and chief credit officer and former head of risk at Citi Mortgage, Arash Sotoodehnia understand that our company is going to be measured by the marriage of sourcing power, underwriting expertise and technology-powered execution.”

Additional leaders in the company's commercial equity division include former BlackRock directors Bryan Schultz and Shelton Getter, while Partners Capital and Thorofare veteran Bill Lanting heads the commercial debt product team.

“Ed's wealth of experience in both real estate and capital markets and his enthusiasm for the RealtyShares' approach will prove invaluable as the company continues to disrupt the space through the use of smart tech, big data and machine learning. We are thrilled to welcome him to the RealtyShares board of directors,” said Niko Bonatsos, managing director at General Catalyst, tells GlobeSt.com.

Forst oversaw 16,000 real estate professionals in 60 countries at Cushman & Wakefield. Along with leasing office space and managing building operations, the firm appraised more than $1 trillion in commercial opportunities annually. He joined the firm after 16 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as a partner. He also chaired the firm's global underwriting committee for seven years and led the development of the firm's $2 billion global headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

“Ed has a perfect mix of operating experience, as CEO at Cushman & Wakefield, and tremendous connections in the capital markets world owing to his time at Goldman Sachs,” said Realty Shares CEO Nav Athwal. “Not to mention he is a great mentor and strong believer of what we're doing here at RealtyShares. Our company sits at the intersection of technology, real estate and capital markets, so Ed is going to be a pivotal board member and will help strengthen the legitimacy of our business model with lenders, institutions and other high-powered real estate incumbents.”

In addition to capital partners such as CBRE along with hedge funds, insurance companies and family offices, a key focus for the company in 2017 is to broaden its reach into the institutional capital markets. Athwal believes Forst will make a significant contribution to that effort.

Forst will also be a member of the RealtyShares advisory board, comprised of several industry veterans. These advisors have decades of experience and should complement the company's deep roster of real estate experts.

Joe Azelby─senior partner of Apollo's real assets business and the former CEO of JPMorgan's global real assets group, where he led a team of 400 investment professionals and investments worth in excess of $60 billion.

Keri Findley─A former partner and chief credit officer at Third Point, a $15 billion hedge fund.

Gerald Fogelson─Founder and CEO of the Fogelson Group of Companies.

Across all product types, RealtyShares has helped raise more than $300 million across 550 investment opportunities in 35 states. Since March, it has helped raise capital for several commercial deals, including $3 million in debt for Rincon Partners, $3.5 million in equity for Avesta and $5.9 million of debt and equity funding for Hamilton Real Estate Capital, potentially the first full stack capital transaction by a crowdfunding platform.

“The process for getting a loan or equity capital for a commercial project is very time-consuming and complex in the offline world, and that is what we're changing with RealtyShares,” said Athwal. “Not only are we striving to be the fastest provider of capital for real estate, but we also want to do it in a way that delights our customers at every touch point. This mindset has not been integrated into the real estate investing and fundraising process on a wide scale, so we are proud to be at the forefront of doing that.”