Fifth Wall

Fifth Wall CEO & CIO Brendan Wallace recently spoke at the RAISE Global Summit. This was Brendan's second time speaking here, with the first being actually pitching Fifth Wall before its first fund. Much of the conversation centered around the importance of brand and content, and why Fifth Wall focuses on creating content about things we truly care about and are directly relevant to our LPs and portfolio companies. Brendan also talked about how corporate venture capital has experienced silent growth, which is one of the best indictors for the health of the venture ecosystem. #proptech #venturecapital

I've been looking at various forms of flexible solar for almost 20 years. Despite incredible success of standard solar panels, flexible solar never really took off due to mostly 3 issues: lower efficiency, lack of durability and cost. Merlin Solar Technologies brought efficiency effectively equal to the best performing Si panels and >20-year durability even in extreme conditions - vibration, salinity, moisture, bending pressure, temperature variations. With standard solar panel pricing collapsing (we hear of standard Asian modules going for less than $0.07/Wp FOB!), suddenly, solar makes sense in applications previously considered economically impossible even 2-3 years ago. This includes transportation, non-load bearing rooftops and canopies, curved roofs, etc. The list is long and getting longer. For standard rooftop and large utility applications, go with the cheapest standard modules. For everything else, there is Merlin Solar Technologies. Congrats to Venkatesan Murali, Laura Allen, Olaf Gresens, Bob Brainard and the team on a $31m Series B financing. Looking forward to working with our strong partners and co-investors Saint-Gobain and The Ayala Corporation to deliver the next phase of growth.

📰 We led Merlin Solar Technologies's $31 million Series B. Saint-Gobain and Ayala Corporation also invested. Merlin makes flexible solar panels that are much more lightweight than a traditional solar panel, meaning they can be installed (via an adhesive sticker) in places that other solar panels can't be. We are excited to work with the Merlin team in their next phase of growth. #proptech #solar #venturecapital

💼 3 jobs our portfolio companies VTS, Runwise, and Industrious are actively hiring for: • Growth Marketing Manager @ VTS (New York, NY) What they’re looking for: someone with 3+ years of experience to lead growth marketing efforts, optimize digital campaigns, and drive customer acquisition. The role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams, refining marketing strategies, and executing data-driven initiatives to support the company's growth with strong analytical and communication skills. Apply: https://lnkd.in/eFm3pR6J • Strategic Finance Manager @ Runwise (New York, NY) What they’re looking for: someone with 2-6 years of experience to lead FP&A efforts, optimize forecasting and budgeting, and provide insights to drive business growth. The role involves collaborating with senior leadership, refining financial models, and supporting the company's scaling with strong analytical and communication skills. Apply: https://lnkd.in/eHVAhUrA • Head of Sales, North America @ Industrious (New York, NY) What they’re looking for: someone with experience leading enterprise and SMB sales teams who can drive revenue growth across 200+ locations. The role involves developing sales strategies, managing a high-performing team, and collaborating with marketing and product teams. Strong leadership and a passion for commercial real estate are key. Apply: https://lnkd.in/eTTU5UQv #proptech #hiring

Zach Aarons and MetaProp have played a pivotal role in the development of the proptech industry. Before Aarons founded MetaProp, which today is a leading proptech firm, he began his career in investment banking and later launched a walking tour startup, before transitioning to work in his father’s real estate firm. This blend of real estate and technology exposure sparked his interest in modernizing the real estate industry through technology. Like many leaders in proptech, he became passionate about using technology to enhance the efficiency and modernization of the real estate sector. Aarons went on to earn an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he combined his enthusiasm for New York’s startup ecosystem with the real estate industry. In a class led by General Partners from RRE Ventures, Aarons was encouraged to explore real estate technology further and even wrote a paper about emerging proptech companies like VTS, Hightower, and CompStak®. Aarons' career serves as a strong example of how leveraging one's unique strengths and experiences can lead to professional success, particularly in the early stages of a career. Learn about his story in this conversation with Fifth Wall CEO & CIO, Brendan Wallace. #proptech #realestate #entrepreneurship

🏙️ Remen Okoruwa, CEO of Fifth Wall portfolio company Propexo, sees both pros and cons when founders break into proptech without previous real estate experience. One pro: fresh perspectives and new ideas. One con: not speaking the unique language of real estate. Remen says that proptech founders need to speak the language of the real estate industry and understand the unique challenges faced by different stakeholders like property managers, property owners, and developers. Founders who come into the space without this knowledge may have trouble selling their product. #proptech #realestate #entrepreneurship

Tesla revealed its Robotaxi the the other week, which again got me thinking about autonomous vehicles' impact on real estate. Brad Hargreaves got me thinking on this originally, and I love his point that not nearly enough people are taking this trend seriously enough because of autonomous vehicles' fake hype cycle in the mid-2010s. But when self-driving tech is fully realized -- which will be a reality -- it will significantly impact the real estate market by eliminating the need for car ownership and parking spaces or garages. New asset classes will also emerge to serve these vehicles. Down the line I could also see people willing to commute or take weekend trips much longer distances, if car travel anywhere (level 5 autonomy) becomes as mindless and hands-free as going by train. I think Brad Hargreaves and I might need to talk about this at our panel about the future of real estate at OPTECH 2024 tomorrow, which is from 2:15–3:00. Autonomous vehicles could absolutely impact the residential sector by expanding viable commute times and lessening parking need/requirements... #realestate #proptech

⚡️ Big tech is breaking into the energy sector. One of the most notable examples is Microsoft partnering with Constellation Energy to bring the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant back online. "The utility will spend about $1.6B to restore the plant by 2028. Microsoft will then buy its carbon-free power for the next 20 years," The Economist reports. The reason for this push? The AI boom. An AI data center can require as much as a gigawatt of power. That much power requires millions of solar panels, or a single nuclear power plant. #datacenters #energy

🥃 Distilleries are facing pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, due to increasing regulations and penalties across the world. Some distilleries are addressing this by using heat pump technology to capture and reuse the waste heat generated during the distilling process, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. This involves a mechanical vapor recompression system that compresses and heats the waste vapor to the required temperature. Overall, the distillery industry will need to transition away from fossil fuels toward more electrified and renewable energy sources, such as a greener electricity grid or green hydrogen and biogas, in order to become emission-free. This transition will likely begin with specialized retrofits for older distillery infrastructure and traditional distilling processes. Learn more from Fifth Wall VP Francesca Whitehead. #climate #retrofits

🏚️ Homeowners (and all real estate owners) increasingly need to think about the risk severe weather could pose to their property when buying. Zillow partnered with First Street for climate data and analytics, so homebuyers can analyze a home's risk to floods, wildfires, wind, heat, and air quality. #realestate #climate