Expanding Product Line, Tech-Enabled Underwriting and Unique Data Fuel Strong 2016
San Francisco, CA — January 24, 2017 — RealtyShares, a leading online marketplace for real estate investing, announced it has surpassed over $300 million invested into residential and commercial real estate projects through its growing network of individual and institutional investors. This comes only four months after exceeding $200 million invested in September 2016.
Since inception, the RealtyShares ecosystem has allowed individual investors to purchase shares in private real estate investments for as little as $5,000 while offering real estate companies and borrowers efficient access to capital. Those efforts have ramped up over the last year, with the company expanding its base to also encompass large, multi-billion dollar institutions, and further strengthening its funding capabilities.
Through a disciplined growth strategy and tech-enabled underwriting, RealtyShares has facilitated 550 real estate deals across more than 1,000 properties in 35 states — with over half of those projects originated in 2016. And since inception, has returned over $59.7 million in principal to investors. Last year alone, nearly $237 million was originated for real estate projects through RealtyShares and investors received over $40 million in principal returned. Year-over-year, RealtyShares saw a 77 percent growth in average deal size compared to 2015.
“RealtyShares has created access to a new asset class for investors. Our model simplifies how investors and real estate companies interact and transact, and we continue to see demand on both sides,” said Nav Athwal, Founder and CEO of RealtyShares. “Over the last ten years, upstarts like Zillow and Trulia have democratized real estate data. Now, we’ve built a platform to open up a way to connect real estate investors and those seeking capital; maximizing unique data that has been historically difficult to gather with the ultimate vision to build the Nasdaq for real estate.”
For its network of 38,000 accredited investors, RealtyShares opens up a range of pre-screened private investment opportunities; including loans and equity investments in residential and commercial properties. Investors can pick and choose properties located nationwide from the convenience of their laptop or tablet and invest as little as $5,000. For project sponsors and developers, it affords potentially more efficiencies than banks and other traditional capital sources — translating into possible lower rates and funding speeds that are a fraction of those of banks.
“Real estate represents trillions of dollars in investment opportunities — it’s a big market,” said Niko Bonatsos, managing director at General Catalyst. “The platform that Nav and the RealtyShares team have built is giving tens of thousands of enthusiastic investors streamlined access to a market that they’ve previously found too convoluted or have been shut out of entirely. Reaching $300 million in funding for projects is an incredibly significant milestone, and we believe RealtyShares is just getting started.” Keep in mind there are risks involved with investing in real estate, including loss of capital.
RealtyShares is based in San Francisco, CA and is backed by Union Square Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Menlo Ventures. For more information about the $300 million announcement, visit Founder and CEO Nav Athwal’s blog post. For more information about how to invest with RealtyShares, visit www.RealtyShares.com.
