The surge in mortgage rates at the beginning of 2022 tested the real estate market and its accompanying glut of proptech startups. Meanwhile, industry veteran Clelia Warburg Peters was leaving her job as a venture partner at Bain Capital Ventures to start her own proptech venture firm. Unlike many specialized proptech funds, Peters focuses on technologies that aim to innovate, rather than appease, existing players.
“Purely incremental real estate innovations are very hard to sell,” Peters told the sources. “The real estate sector has traditionally been a tough customer for technology, and that’s become increasingly clear.”
That vision attracted some investors, who committed $88 million to the first fund of her firm, Era Ventures. Peters’ deep experience also played a large part in this success. Over a decade ago, she began her real estate career, working for her father’s business, Warburg Realty-one of the biggest independent brokerages in New York City. She had promised herself six months, which lasted until she left it all behind and returned to the love of her life, technology. “I was pulled into real estate and was surprised at how little innovation there was in the field,” Peters reflected.
In 2014, she co-founded MetaProp, one of the first firms focused on proptech, and has coined the term. “At MetaProp, our limited partners were primarily strategic investors looking for insights as much as financial returns,” she said.
While many other proptech funds are supported by strategic investors, Peters hopes Era will be different. Her limited partners are New York Presbyterian Hospital, Continental General Insurance Company, Fenwick & West, and Bain Capital Ventures.
“I wanted the flexibility to invest in companies that could be competitors to the strategic LPs of many peer funds, acknowledged Peters. “I also wanted to emphasize that our goal is to achieve top quartile or top decile financial returns. Many funds in this sector may not prioritize this as their guiding principle.” Era Ventures Raises $88M for New Fund to Shake Up Industry
