Yip, who spent the last 12 years of his career with the large private equity firm TPG in San Francisco, brings a track record in investing and company building. Yip was introduced to Helm by a mutual acquaintance earlier in the year and says he spent much of that time talking with him about the vision and strategy for RET. "I had a real interest in doing something entrepreneurial," Yip says. "In a way a RET felt like a little bit of a startup. I'm excited by the opportunity to help build out RET as a platform." RET Ventures' limited partners (LPs) include institutional multifamily and single-family owners in North America.

The organization taps into these rental property owners and operators to help it identify potential real estate technology category leaders and speed their growth through deep engagement with the fund's investor group.

"I think it is a really interesting ecosystem," Yip says. "For me, it's really bringing that that long background investing and company building, combined with John's experience in the industry and as an entrepreneur himself. We want to continue the mission of RET, which is finding the proptech and real estate tech innovators of tomorrow and bringing that ecosystem to our LP's and vice versa. And we want to continue building out these innovative technologies for the industry."

Since the launch of its first $110 million fund, RET Ventures has invested in many promising proptech and rent tech companies in the industry. The addition of Yip allows the firm to expand that net. "We can have that much more coverage for all of the exciting startups out there," Yip says. "I'm going to spend the bulk of my time trying to develop investment themes, find new investments, meet entrepreneurs and manage new investments. I'll spend a lot of time working with entrepreneurs and then I will spend a lot of time with our LP partners."

Yip says a major part of his role will also be building RET's talent base and processes. "John and I have some ambitious plans to increase the headcount of RET and bring in some new talent," he says.