After decades of fostering startups, Intel is breaking into real estate tech.
Intel Capital, the technology giant’s venture capital arm, led a $16 million funding round into Cherre, a software-as-a-service platform for landowners and real estate investors.
Cherre is the first real estate technology investment by Intel’s investment arm since it launched almost three decades ago. With investments in more than 1,500 companies totalling $12.6 billion, it has become a powerhouse for accelerating young startups.
Last year it announced that it was investing $117 million in 14 startups across artificial intelligence, communications, healthcare and manufacturing sectors.
Cherre, which launched in 2016 in New York, has raised $25 million. Led by CEO L.D. Salmanson, the firm aggregates public and private data and says it uses artificial intelligence to boost underwriting and investment information on more than 170 million properties. Its most recent funding round also included investments from Navitas Capital, Carthona Capital, Zigg Capital and Dreamit Ventures.
The startup is pushing into a crowded sector of data companies geared toward the real estate sector that are increasingly drawing institutional investment. Reonomy, which provides information on about 50 million commercial properties in the U.S., announced in November it had raised $60 million from Wells Fargo and Citibank.
Some data firms have stumbled of late. Credifi, a New York-based firm that ceased operations in December, was saved last month through an acquisition by loan data firm Actovia.