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CBRE gets Floored: Brokerage acquires real estate tech startup
Deal comes six months after hiring of new CTO
UPDATED, Jan. 4, 5:00 p.m.: CBRE acquired real estate tech startup Floored for an undisclosed price, in a deal that expands the real estate services behemoth’s technology division.
Founded in 2012, Floored produces virtual, 3D office floor plans for landlords and brokers. The firm’s co-founders David Eisenberg, Dustin Byrne and Judy He will join CBRE along with their 36 employees.
Eisenberg, who will become CBRE’s new senior vice president of digital enablement and technology, told The Real Deal that Floored will be CBRE’s “proprietary asset.”
Chandra Dhandapani
The deal comes six months after CBRE hired Chandra Dhandapani from Capital One bank as chief digital & technology officer, with plans to double down on real estate technology.
“Space visualization is something all of us can relate to,” Dhandapani said, “and it makes it easier for our brokers to work with our clients.”
Dhandapani and Eisenberg declined to say how much CBRE paid for Floored, but Eisenberg claimed that “everybody was happy.” Floored had raised $7.36 million from investors including RRE Ventures, according to Crunchbase. But it hadn’t raised a significant round since December 2013. At the time, it was valued at $29.5 million, according to Pitchbook.
Eisenberg said joining CBRE means Floored will no longer have to hunt as aggressively for clients. Finding customers willing to pay for technology that is useful, but not necessarily crucial, for their business has been one of the biggest challenges facing Floored and many of its real estate tech peers.
“It struck me that a lot of challenges Floored had as a business could be solved by being part of CBRE,” he said, recalling the first time he seriously considered being absorbed by the brokerage.
The deal comes a month after real estate tech firms VTS and Hightower merged in what the firms said would create a $300 million company. The recent deal activity seems to corroborate predictions that a real estate tech merger wave is around the corner.
Note: Eisenberg initially told TRD that Floored will no longer sell its product to CBRE’s competitors. But following publication of this article, he clarified that the firm will, in fact, continue to sell some products to CBRE competitors. The article has been updated accordingly.