With Seven New Investments This Year, Camber Creek Is On A Tear

Casey Berman

Camber Creek’s latest bets on PropTech firm Keyway and building intelligence software maker Virtual Facility, announced over the past few days, suggest the Washington, D.C.-based specialist venture firm investing in innovative real-estate technology startupsis on a tear this year.

In a deal announced on June 23, it led a $9 million seed round for Virtual Facility, a building intelligence platform in New York, has raised $9M. Days prior, Camber Creek led a $25 million Series A funding round for Keyway. Other investors included Canvas Ventures, Crosscut, Montage Ventures, Thomvest and Parker89.

The investments in the two New York firms brought its tally this year to seven. Its other portfolio investments in 2022 have been in Azibo, Curbio, HappyCo, Funnel and Arcadia. In February, Camber also raised a $325 million fund, its fourth since its inception in 2011.

Camber Creek’s bold approach comes on the heels of bullish forecasts and nearly $21 billion raised by venture-backed real estate and PropTech firms in 2021.

For example, the PropTech market — a focus one for Camber Creek — is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 16.8% over the next decade, with the market size swelling from $18.2 billion in 2022 to $86.5 billion in 2032, according to Future Market Insights (FMI).

“People in the real estate space didn’t even know how much opportunity there was for their core business,” Camber Creek founder Casey Berman told The Real Deal in an interview last year. “Today, that’s changed dramatically, the market is just so much bigger. You could argue that it became addressable, while before it wasn’t educated enough to be addressed.”

Berman, who was previously president of operations at one of Washington-D.C. area’s largest privately held real estate development and management companies, founded Camber Creek in 2011.

Along with Jake Fingert, Berman serves as co-managing partner, overseeing Camber Creek’s deal-making as well as fund-raising. Berman sits on the boards of a number of Camber Creek portfolio companies, including Curbio, HappyCo, Placemakr and SalesWarp, and also Capital Bank, N.A.

Other key executives at Camber Creek include executive partner Mitchell Schear, while investors include Jean-Paul Bowgen, Alexandra Nicoletti, Lionel Foster and Nicki McMorrow Westhauser.

Camber Creek has more than $500 million in assets under management. A good chunk of its portfolio is in PropTech companies, among them Notarize, Flex, FlyHomes, Measurabl, Curbio, HappyCo, Building Engines and Latch. Of over 30 companies it has invested in, Camber Creek has completed 11 successful exits. Among those was Latch, which went public via an initial public offering at a valuation of $1.5 billion. Currently, Camber Creek has over 25 active holdings.