Proptech Pains

Real Estate Startups Hit Hard Times, Fourward Venture Marches Toward Inaugural Raise, and Pando Secures Funding for AI Supply Chain Innovation.

Author

Adam from VC Brags
May 04, 2023

Welcome Shareholders,

In this daily edition of the Brags Newsletter, weā€™ll cover how proptech startups are struggling to raise cash as investor enthusiasm fades. Also, Fourward Ventures pursues a $50 million raise for its inaugural fund, and Pando makes progress on its AI Supply Chain tech with new funding.

So sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy!

Venture Today šŸ‘

  • Startups that survived the proptech apocalypse aren't out of the woods, as they continue to struggle with fundraising due to waning investor interest.

Real Estate tech firms are grappling with numerous challenges, including rising interest rates, office vacancies, and cash burn, hindering their progress. Prorptech firms now have an average pre-money valuation of $64 million, the lowest since 2013, and are experiencing their slowest funding pace since 2015.

Investors' fatigue may be linked to the ambitious goals of several proptech companies that went public in recent years, but ultimately performed poorly, dampening enthusiasm. Eight venture-backed firms in the industry, including Sonder, WeWork, Offerpad, Opendoor, and Compass now have a market value that's below the their total private capital raised and have experienced a market value decline of at least 80% since going public.

Whoā€™s Raising?

  • Los-Angeles based Venture Capital firm Fourward is raising its inaugural fund of $50 million, targeting consumer-driven startups.

Fourward will invest $250,000 to $3 million per deal across seed, Series A, or Series B funding rounds. The firm has evaluated 407 deals since May of last year and has already made investments in 9 companies.

Focusing on health and wellness, sustainability, media tech, and consumer categories, Fourward's investments include Partake, an allergen-free food company projected to earn $34 million in revenue this year, and Goodles, a high-protein macaroni and cheese maker co-founded by actress Gal Gadot, expected to generate $10 million in sales. Half of the fund has already been raised, and the remainder is set to close by September 15th, with capital sourced from a combination of family offices, financiers, and celebrities.

Startup of the Day

  • Pando, a startup focused on fulfillment management technologies, announced a $30 million Series B round led by Iron Pillar and Uncorrelated Ventures, featuring participation from existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures, and Next47.

Pando looks to address the demand by unifying supply chain data from various internal and external silos, encompassing information on customers, suppliers, logistics service providers, facilities, and product SKUs. The platform offers a range of tools and apps for diverse tasks, including freight procurement, trade and transport management, freight audit, and payment, document management, dispatch planning, and analytics.

The company serves Fortune 500 manufacturers and retailers such as P&G, J&J, Valvoline, Castrol, Cummins, Siemens, Danaher, and Accuride, and has experienced an 8x revenue growth and a 5x customer increase since its 2020 Series A funding round.

Fresh Finds

  • Folk V2 is designed as a next-generation CRM, providing an intelligent system that balances data and AI for automation and simplicity.

  • The platform is adaptable to various businesses, streamlining contact management processes without requiring costly integrations or system manipulation.

  • Offering a tailored approach, Folk V2 minimizes manual tasks, such as contact synchronization, categorization, enrichment, and duplicate merging, while enabling personalized email campaigns and on-the-fly "ice-breakers."

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