RET Ventures Bets Big on Multifamily and SFR With 2nd Fund
The firm believes that the rise of remote work and changing rental preferences among consumers will reshape the housing market.
VC firm RET Ventures has closed a second $165 million fund backed by a base of strategic investors. The fund’s investors included more than 40 multifamily and single-family real estate owners, operators, and developers across North America that serve as technology development partners and customers for the startups RET invests in.
Participants in the RET Ventures Fund II include affiliates of major multifamily REITs including Essex Property Trust, Invitation Homes, Mid-America Apartment Communities and UDR and as well as private owners and managers like BH Management, Bozzuto, Cortland, Edward Rose & Sons, Greystar Real Estate Group, Starlight Capital, Starwood Capital Group and Waterton.
The most recent fund was oversubscribed and comes on the heels of RET’s initial $109 million fundraise in November 2018.
“Our mission at RET Ventures from the beginning has been to bring together entrepreneurs and the institutional owners and operators that power the $7 trillion multifamily and SFR industries to drive innovation and create a better, more efficient and more sustainable housing sector,” said John Helm, founder and partner at RET Ventures in prepared remarks. Helm noted that it more than doubled the size of its investor base in this new fund.
The firm is betting that the rise of remote work and changing rental preferences among consumers will continue to reshape the housing market. The most recent round of strategic investors in RET’s second fund includes Invitation Homes and Pretium (Progress Residential), two of the largest SFR operators in the US who together own and operate more than 50% of the institutionally-controlled SFR units in the country.
“The single-family rental market is experiencing a period of significant growth, both from renters who are increasingly untethered to dense urban centers and looking for more space, and from investors looking to capitalize on these emerging trends,” said Invitation Homes president & CEO Dallas Tanner in prepared remarks. “Technology will play a critical role in this market as it continues to grow, as SFR operators stand to benefit greatly from tools that can streamline management and maintenance, as well as those that provide a worry-free experience for renters.”