The BrickVest platform which provides investors online access to institutional quality commercial real estate investments across Europe and its performance in its first month shows consumer appetite for investment opportunities provided by ‘Proptech’ firms. Proptech start-ups were estimated to attract $1.5 billion by the end of 2015.
Emmanuel Lumineau, CEO, BrickVest says: “We knew BrickVest could satisfy sophisticated investors, historically unable to access significant real estate investment opportunities, and the success in the first month is strong validation for the platform. With the first two deals in Germany already closed, our members have indicated their intention to increase their allocation to our investment offerings. We are now focused on investing in our technology and people to scale our services and on ensuring that we are reacting swiftly to this remarkable global demand for accessible real estate investment.”
The first investment opportunity to close on BrickVest’s platform is an office in Berlin’s central ‘Potsdamer Platz’ – a deal made available thanks to BrickVest’s partnership with ÆRIUM.
BrickVest’s Chief Investment Officer Thomas Schneider notes: “The opportunities available to members are selling themselves. Our users appreciate the transparency, simplicity and ease of investing. This has enabled us to focus on our unique deal sourcing capabilities. We are now expanding our investment offering to other European countries and the US and we are accelerating the launch of our secondary marketplace.”
George Taylor, a UK-based investor into the Berlin office investment opportunity explained his rationale behind his investment: “I have been an active private investor for over 20 years, mainly in shares and bonds. I have struggled in the past to gain access to direct international quality real estate investment strategies. It is the first time that I come across a platform that could offer international institutional quality investment with the ease of an online equity trading platform. I see the low minimum investment as a great way to test the platform with a few thousand pounds, with a view to increasing my allocation steadily over time. I have invested in the Postdamer Platz commercial opportunity and am now looking at the Oxford Street one.”