JLL to grant $133.3m to global proptech startups

Startups that venture on management and leasing may apply.

JLL division JLL Spark launched a $133.3m (US$100m) project to fund companies in leveraging their technology. The JLL Spark Global Venture fund will help real estate development, management, leasing, and investing in companies, the firm said in an announcement.

The fund will delve more on seed and Series A investments, as well as select late-stage rounds. Investment sizes may range from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars.

According to the announcement, the grant will also touch on companies that are inventing new technology-enabled business models in traditional JLL service areas or those that will help expand its services to new client segments.

Citing a company report, JLL said that 179 proptech startups Asia Pacific raised around US$4.8b ($6.5b), outpacing counterparts in Europe and the United States by garnering 60% of the global total funds between 2013 and mid-2017. The report predicted that funding for Asia-Pacific proptech may reach $6b (US$4.5b) a year by 2020.

“Asia Pacific is home to the world’s leading smart cities, many of which are powered by tech-enabled real estate tools,” JLL Spark co-CEO Mihir Shah said. “JLL is committed to cultivating next-generation proptech start-ups and promoting Asia Pacific as a hub of technology innovation for real estate."