Dutch pension investor APG and Ivanhoé Cambridge have backed an Asian fund managed by property technology firm Taronga Ventures.
APG and the real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec have invested in RealTech Ventures I (RTVI), Taronga’s built environment technology fund.
As previously reported, PGIM Real Estate, Patrizia, CBRE, and Dexus have all backed RTVI, a fund that targets companies active in proptech, construction technology, mobility, infrastructure, energy and sustainability, as well as data and internet of things.
APG’s investment marks the €634bn Dutch pension investor’s first investment into the built environment technology in the Asia Pacific. For Ivanhoé Cambridge, the investment helps to further diversify its portfolio in the Asia Pacific.
APG and Ivanhoé Cambridge will also become partners in Taronga’s ESG Impact innovation programme, which will be implemented across Asia in 2022 and 2023. The programme supports the adoption of best-in-class ESG technologies and innovations that drive real and measurable change.
Graeme Torre, managing director and head of real estate for APG Asset Management Asia Pacific, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Taronga Ventures for our first Proptech investment in the Asia Pacific.
”The partnership will allow us to have direct access to some of the latest innovations in our industry which will bring long-term benefits to our wider real estate portfolio.”
Sylvain Fortier, chief investment and innovation officer at Ivanhoé Cambridge, said the commitment to RTVI will provide Ivanhoé Cambridge with a first-mover advantage in asset management and investments in Asia Pacific, “helping us to identify emerging trends across the built environment and accelerating the adoption of technologies targeted at the decarbonisation of the real estate sector while creating sustainable outcomes for the sector”.
Jonathan Hannam, co-founder and managing partner at Taronga Ventures, said: “We are pleased to welcome APG and Ivanhoé Cambridge into our ecosystem as investors and also as partners in our ESG Impact innovation programme. Institutional capital has an increasingly active commitment to sustainability and driving change across the real estate sector.
“We will be working closely with both investors as well as their underlying partners to drive portfolio opportunities and to support their innovation and ESG strategies.”
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