Fifth Wall has raised $500m (€495m) to invest in technologies that can reduce the carbon footprint of the real estate industry.
Fifth Wall’s Climate Fund received capital commitment from investors including American Homes 4 Rent, BBVA, British Land, Camden Property Trust, CBRE, Cosan, The Durst Organization, Equity Residential, Hilton, Host Hotels & Resorts and Hudson Pacific Properties.
The fund was also backed by Invitation Homes, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Kimco Realty Corporation, Lineage Ventures, MGM Resorts, NZ Super Fund, Osgoode Properties, and UDR, among others, Fifth Wall said.
Fifth Wall said the Climate Fund aims to invest in software, hardware, renewable energy, energy storage, smart buildings, and carbon sequestration technologies to decarbonise the real estate industry.
The fund has so far invested in a number of technology companies, including Assembly OSM, Brimstone, Clarity AI, Electric Hydrogen, ICON, Sealed, SPAN, Turntide Technologies and Wildcat Discovery Technologies.
Brendan Wallace, co-founder and managing partner, Fifth Wall, said that although the real estate industry has historically been among the largest contributors to global greenhouse gases, most real estate organisations have underinvested into the critical climate tech necessary to decarbonise.
“The strategic LPs in our Climate Fund have instead taken a true leadership role among the industry by making real financial commitments to address real estate’s contributions to climate change.”
Greg Smithies, partner and co-lead of Fifth Wall’s climate investment team, said: “There is a distinction between implementing existing technologies and investing in the new technologies that will allow the industry to reach true net zero.
”Real estate organisations that prioritise R&D investment, like those invested in Fifth Wall’s Climate Fund, have developed a real competitive edge over their peers.”
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