Please wait as we prepare your PDF file ....

Mission Chronicle Blog

Search Blog

our goal is to help you stay informed by providing timely and interesting articles.

What SoftBank looks for when it makes real estate tech investments

07/23/2018

Download PDF

Japanese venture capital giant SoftBank has $100 billion to dole out, and some of that big money is going to the real estate industry.

SoftBank senior investor Justin Wilson took the stage with moderator Clelia Peters at Inman Connect San Francisco’s Capital Connect Friday morning to explain why and to share what SoftBank is looking for when the firm writes multimillion-dollar checks from its SoftBank Vision Fund.

“When we look at businesses, we want to find opportunities of companies that are really leveraging data extensively and in everything that they’re doing. We want to invest in platform businesses,” he said. “When we’re putting hundred-million, billion-dollar checks behind these companies, they have to have the potential to be very large businesses.”

SoftBank is known for its early investment in Alibaba, the Chinese company that is Amazon’s only global competitor. Since then, the firm has backed the lender SoFi, WeWork, Compass, Indian Uber competitor Ola and a host of other tech companies. SoftBank usually invests when startups are in the late stage with the potential for massive growth.

Wilson joined SoftBank three years ago, before the firm launched its $100 billion Vision Fund. The next-largest venture capital fund is about $6 billion at Sequoia Capital, Peters noted, putting SoftBank in a league of its own.

Wilson is the one who oversees many of SoftBank’s investments in real estate tech and proptech — a development he said is a result of his personal passion for the space.

How to find the hidden potholes on the road to agent productivity A simple step-by-step to help you save time and money READ MORE

“There’s always been this element of feeling a real attachment to home and real estate. It’s just been an area that’s been a personal interest, and then as the Vision Fund kicked off … real estate as an industry is just enormous,” he said. “It was an area that, as we talk about SoftBank’s $100 billion fund, we almost have to be playing in that space.”

SoftBank is a big supporter of Compass, in which it invested $450 million last year, including all of Compass’s technology for its agents. Compass, Wilson said, is leveraging its data in the way SoftBank is looking for.

But besides Compass, SoftBank could find itself more involved in the real estate technology sector as the space continues to grow rapidly.

“We’re going to continue to see that evolution play out from what was very local at one point in time [in real estate], to greater scale because of that democratization and access to data,” Wilson said.

Email Emma Hinchliffe

Source: click here

Read More

INSPIRED, INTELLIGENT, INSIGHTFULL

STAY INFORMED WITH TIMELY AND INTERESTING ARTICLES FROM OUR BLOG, MISSION CHRONICLE. OUR ASPIRATION IS TO PROVIDE REALTORS AND OTHER REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS WITH EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCES AND SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE TO PROPEL YOU TO YOUR GOALS.

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter July 24, 2023

    Mortgage rates continued to press downward last week after the previous week's CPI data pointed to e...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Feb 20, 2023

    Despite the recent downward trend in mortgage rates and hopes that the Fed was nearing the end of it...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Feb 6, 2023

    The Federal Reserve meeting ended as market participants expected, with a quarter-point increase and...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 26, 2022

    Mortgage rates held relatively steady last week as most economic news came in better than expected.C...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 12, 2022

    Rates managed to move slightly downward last week as recession fears grew amid hopes that the Fedis ...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 5th 2022

    Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 5th 2022. Platforms: Browser, mobile-responsiveIdeal for: Leasing a...

  • Inman Review: Tenants and leasing teams get better connected with RentTango

    Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology ex...

  • Tech Review: Smart Alto puts people first in its innovative lead qualification solution

    Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology ex...

  • Refreshed and nurture-savvy, Market Leader’s CRM deserves your attention

    Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology ex...

  • The top 4 tips to improve your negotiation skills

    In today’s luxury real estate market, strong negotiation skills are an asset—you might even say ...

November 2024
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

  • Polls

    What information you are looking for?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Last month Results

    How Is My Site?

    • Good (100%, 3 Votes)
    • Excellent (0%, 0 Votes)
    • Bad (0%, 0 Votes)
    • Can Be Improved (0%, 0 Votes)
    • No Comments (0%, 0 Votes)

    Total Voters: 3

    Vote

    Loading ... Loading ...