Why Facebook’s co-founder has put $6m into this Aussie start-up
Summary
Mr Saverin was best known for co-founding Facebook, and gained widespread fame following the 2010 movie The Social Networks depiction of his booting from the company by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.Since leaving Facebook, Mr Saverin now a multibillionaire has become an active tech investor. Along with B Capital, he has financed global start-up generator Antler.OIF co-founder and former Cromwell chairman Geoff Levy, who led Inspaces seed round in 2021, said the VC fund provided a follow-on investment as many property investors were trying to exit their investments amid the commercial property reckoning.Inspaces subscription revenue has also grown by almost four times since then.Mr Liang declined to provide Inspaces valuation after the latest funding round, but said investors were placing a stronger emphasis on profitability, unit economics and customer feedback than in previous years, which had created a tougher investment environment.Like software companies, proptech companies experienced an exuberant bull run in the decade up to 2021, thanks to a prolonged period of cheap money and investors eager to generate returns in high-risk investments. But the days of proptechs accessing easy money appear to be over.AirTree Ventures-backed proptech :Different went into voluntary administration late last week, and former Macquarie Group managers Simon Kinseys proptech Yabonza collapsed last year.Despite tougher conditions in capital markets, Mr Liang said there were opportunities for proptech growth, especially in the US market where $2.3 trillion of commercial real estate debt is due for repayment by the end of 2025.He said Inspaces biggest focus would be expanding its US presence in the US market, where occupancy rates have dipped to a record 12.9 per cent.Last week, Commercial agency JLL estimated that office buildings in New York the worlds largest office market had lost $US76 billion ($113.9 billion) in value from their most recent sales prices.One of the things were focused on working with our customers on is in raising and retaining capital, Mr Liang said.He said usage of Inspaces virtual inspection platform had led to 87 per cent more online views for landlord customers commercial buildings, which had led to increased occupancy rates.Three years since launching, Inspaces platform has been used in $130 billion worth of property transactions. It can also count the likes of Dexus, Mirvac, JLL, CBRE, Blackstone, Brookfield, ESR and Lendlease as customers.