Fifth Wall, a prolific proptech investor that has backed VTS, States Title and Industrious, is joining the SPAC craze.
The Los Angeles-based firm, which is already the best-funded proptech VC outfit, is raising money for a blank-check company that could take some of its portfolio companies public.
Fifth Wall hired underwriters for the special purpose acquisition company, which could go public this quarter, reported Bloomberg. The size of the SPAC was not disclosed.
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Fifth Wall declined to comment.
Launched in 2016, Fifth Wall was launched by Blackstone Group alumni Brad Greiwe and Brendan Wallace. It has $1 billion under management and has backed companies including Opendoor, States Title, VTS, Industrious and Smart Rent.
After raising a $212 million inaugural fund in 2017, Fifth Wall closed a $503 million proptech fund — the largest of its kind — in July 2019. It has since closed a $100 million retail fund and is raising a $200 million carbon impact fund and $118 million European proptech fund.
Opendoor went public last month in a SPAC deal. SEC filings show Fifth Wall’s investment grew by a multiple of seven, generating more than $600 million — on paper.
SPACs raise money from investors and then go public. Last year, 248 SPACs were formed and raised $83 billion. The year before, 59 SPACs were formed and raised $13.6 billion.
In addition to Fifth Wall, other proptech-focused SPACs include Tishman Speyer’s TS Innovation Acquisitions and PropTech Investment Corp. II, formed by Tom Hennessey and Joe Beck. Hennessy and Beck’s first SPAC merged last month with home-services startup Porch.com.
[Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont