News | 26 Jul 2021

Pi Labs Announces Duo of Investors for Fund III

  • Moorfield Group and Elkstone Partners investments highlight growing importance of technology in real estate
  • They join existing LPs including GPE, Patrizia, Assura, Revcap, and Embassy Group, increasing Pi Labs’ war chest for investment into new Proptech start-ups 

Pioneering European PropTech VC, Pi Labs, announces two new investors who join as limited partners (LPs) into its third institutional fund, Fund III. The new funding gives Pi Labs additional firepower to continue to invest in the next generation of Proptech start-ups and build on its position as Europe’s leading Proptech VC.  These latest investments in the Pi Labs fund demonstrate the growing appetite for exposure to the Proptech sector amongst both UK and international investors.

Moorfield Group, the UK-focused real estate fund manager, and Elkstone Partners, Ireland’s leading Multi-Family Office, are the latest investors to join Pi Labs, highlighting the continued importance of technology in the future success of real estate. It follows the recent announcement that Embassy Group, one of India’s largest real estate conglomerates, has also joined Pi Labs as an LP which will act as the gateway to Asia.

By participating in Pi Labs Fund III as LPs, Moorfield Group and Elkstone Partners will be helping to accelerate the adoption of technology in real estate whilst also demonstrating a commitment to the transformation of the sector through innovative technology, drawing on synergies from Pi Labs proptech ecosystem. Having already invested in 17 companies out of the new Fund since the beginning of the pandemic, Pi Labs is Europe’s most active proptech VC, with over 55 investments in its portfolio.

Pi Labs’ position as Europe’s leading proptech investor will enable the new LPs access to its ecosystem, which includes start-ups from across Europe, the company’s proprietary research, and the cutting-edge ideas in built environment technology emerging from its accelerator programme. This strategic investment will allow the new LPs to trial, pilot, and deploy the latest technologies across their portfolio of properties. As strategic LPs, Moorfield Group and Elkstone Partners will gain early access to Pi Labs’ start-ups and Proptech research and co-investments alongside Pi Labs for select opportunities.

Faisal Butt, CEO & Founder at Pi Labs, said: “We are delighted to welcome Moorfield Group and Elkstone Partners as new limited partners in our third fund. Their real estate portfolios and experience as developers, investors and real estate managers will add strategic value for Pi Labs and our growing portfolio of over 50 companies.  Expanding our Proptech ecosystem across Europe and internationally is central to our success, as we continue to act as the gateway between real estate investors and the rapidly changing Proptech world that we are at the front lines of.

“These new commitments to Pi Labs is not only an endorsement of our market leading position but is also indicative of the wider industry’s prioritisation of proptech as it continues to become increasingly important across every facet of the real estate value chain. The adoption of Proptech has been accelerated due to COVID; we’ve seen this first-hand with the broader deployment of technologies from our portfolio being trialled and rolled out across major institutional real estate assets globally.”

Charles Ferguson-Davie, CIO at Moorfield Group, added: “We have been at the forefront of the evolution of new sector trends in real estate and we are partnering with Pi Labs to help us identify technological innovation that will improve our investment and asset management capabilities. Technology is going to continue to disrupt the way we live and work and we want to ensure that we keep pace with the changing landscape. We are excited to be supporting Pi Labs in their search for the next generation of technology experts who will shape the future of the real estate industry.”

Alan Merriman, Founder of Elkstone, said: “Access to the very best opportunities is key. At Elkstone we have been very deliberate in building up a very select portfolio of international venture fund investments that we look to leverage from a strategic and learnings perspective. it’s a good way to source deals to co-invest in. Real Estate is a space that we know and feel we should have an edge in, so we think there is a natural marriage by working with Pi Labs”.

Pi Labs attracts a global base of LPs, from North America, Europe, Middle East, APAC, and Asia. Pi Labs’ current strategic partners who have invested into Fund III include FTSE-listed Great Portland Estates PLC, FTSE-listed Assura PLC, PATRIZIA AG, among the top 10 real estate investment managers in Europe, pan-European real estate fund manager Revcap and Embassy Group, one of India’s largest real estate conglomerates.