ESG podcast: “Innovation and investment are aligned,” says A/O PropTech

A/O PropTech has raised a €250m evergreen fund to invest in tech companies transforming European real estate and Greg Dewerpe, its founder, is joined by Cem Savas, who heads up one its portfolio firms, Plentific, known for disrupting asset management across the housing association sector.

The remote revolution spreads beyond tech

At first, it was just the Silicon Valley tech giants embracing remote work forever. Now, firms in other industries are jumping on board. Driving the news: The Ford Motor Company is offering permanent telework as an option to all of its white-collar workers who are able to complete the tasks of their jobs remotely. That’s about 30,000 of its 186,000 employees, per CBS….

Modiv Acquisition Corp. (“MAC SPAC”) Announces Filing of Registration Statement

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Modiv Acquisition Corp. (“MAC SPAC”) today announced the launch of its initial public offering of 10,000,000 Units. MAC SPAC has applied to have its Units approved for listing on the NYSE American under the symbol “MACS.U.” Each Unit will consist of one share of MAC SPAC’s common stock and one redeemable warrant to purchase one-half share of common stock.

WhyHotel pops up again — and it plans on growing more in 2021

Pop-up hotel and hospitality operator WhyHotel Inc. is official launching in two more locations — but plans to expand dramatically in 2021, its CEO says. … While the spread of Covid-19 wrought havoc among the hospitality industry, WhyHotel’s pop-ups maintained 85% occupancy during the pandemic, he stressed.

Compass aims for $10B+ market valuation

Residential brokerage Compass took another step toward becoming a publicly traded company Tuesday, declaring it intends to sell common stock at a share price of between $23 and $26. The New York City-headquartered company will offer 36 million Class A common stock shares to the public, according to the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, plus another 5.4 million shares to the investment banks underwriting the initial public offering….

Flexible Offices Will Be Crowded After Covid-19

Companies such as WeWork—which is in talks to go public, The Wall Street Journal reported in January—and Regus IWG -0.98% owner IWG had a harsher pandemic than regular office landlords. A risky business model where they sign long leases and sublet space on short-term contracts meant that many of their tenants bailed out quickly. WeWork’s global occupancy rate dropped to 47% at the end of 2020 and it lost $3.2 billion, according to an investor pitch seen by the Financial Times. IWG also racked up…

Modular housing startup Veev raises $100M to build homes faster, cheaper

The startup, which uses prefabrication and 3D printing, raised the new cash on TASE UP, a platform launched by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that lets tech companies receive funds from institutional investors while remaining privately held. Veev is the first company to raise money on the platform. …

Solar projects advance Rhode Island’s renewable energy resources

With Investment From IWG, New Leaders, The Wing Is Piecing Together Its Future

Women’s club The Wing is shaking up its leadership team after global coworking giant IWG provided a cash injection last month. Founder and former CEO of Care.com Sheila Lirio Marcelo has been named executive chairwoman of its board of directors, FastCompany reports. Laura Kassan, The Wing co-founder and previously its chief operating officer, has been formally named CEO….

Neighbor raises $53M for self-storage marketplace after 5x YoY revenue growth

Neighbor, which operates a self-storage marketplace, announced Wednesday that it has raised $53 million in a Series B round of funding. Fifth Wall led the financing, which notably also included participation from returning backer Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and new investors DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and StockX CEO Scott Cutler. Xu and Cutler will join former Uber CEO Ryan Graves as investors and advisors to the Lehi, Utah-based startup. A16z led Neighbor’s $10 million Series A in January of 2020….