New York-based proptech firm Markerr has closed a $6.6 million Series B round led by Utah’s RET Ventures. It includes a strategic investment from New York-based Pretium, a specialized residential real estate investment firm with more than $50 billion in assets under management. So far, the two-year-old startup has raised $11.6 million from investors.
“The real estate industry is experiencing tremendous change, and first-movers like Pretium will have a significant competitive advantage by leveraging Markerr’s differentiated data and technology,” said Markerr founder and CEO Brian Lichtenberger, a former MasterCard executive and co-founder of 7Park Data, a technology and analytics company acquired by Vista Equity Partners.
Markerr has built powerful tools using advanced technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to aid decision-making in real estate business. Its software suite includes RealRent, an advanced rent forecasting tool, and RealRank, which provides insights for acquisition and asset management teams. Another tool, Population Nowcast, provides real-time population and migration trends across the country. Last year, Markerr reported a 95% growth in annualized recurring revenue (ARR) and 140% net retention.
‘Big Opportunity’
“Real estate is data intensive,” Lichtenberger told Continental Realty CEO JM Schapiro in a video interview on citybiz last year. He also cited two industry challenges — poor access to existing data in organizations, and the quest for external data for enhanced decision-making.
“We think it is a big opportunity for us,” Lichtenberger said, adding that Markerr has the tech chops to leverage advanced technologies, as well as data. As an example, he cited Markerr’s access to anonymized payroll data covering 20% of working population. It is the kind of granular data that can be leveraged for decisions on property acquisition and development, or to assess revenue potential, he said.
‘Dramatic Growth’
RET Ventures partner Christopher Yip said his firm first invested in Markerr two years ago, after being convinced about “its potential to deliver unique data intelligence to real estate investors.” Since then, the company’s product suite and client base have grown dramatically, he said.
“In today’s tumultuous market, real estate professionals are looking for any possible competitive advantage, and it is telling that many of our strategic investors — some of the country’s largest multifamily and SFR owners — have adopted Markerr,” he said.
Pretium is also a “long-tenured Markerr client,” said Lauren Cipicchio, senior managing director and head of Central Quantitative Strategies at the New York firm. Markerr’s scalable and flexible data and analytics platform supports our ability to make well-informed investment decisions swiftly and with a high degree of confidence, he said.
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Strong Synergies
Pretium, founded in 2012, specializes in investment in U.S. residential real estate, and residential and corporate credit. Its assets under management of over $50 billion comprises real estate investments across 30 markets.
RET works with over 40 strategic investors who own and manage over $600 billion of real estate assets, with a particular focus on multifamily and single-family rental real estate. It is led by founder John Helm, who was previously a venture partner with DN Capital in Munich. Through his career, Helm has completed successful exits from two venture-backed real estate tech startups, and held executive positions at Marcus & Millichap, and McKinsey & Company. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
The Park City, Utah-based firm has raised $273 million from two funds. It has made 42 portfolio investments and exited four. Its recent portfolio investments include Engrain, Get Covered, Travtus, Amenify and Parity.
