Why Partech is thrilled to support Exporo in its mission to democratize real estate investments

By Bruno Crémel, General Partner at Partech

Following our latest German investment in Urban Sports Club last September, Partech is proud to announce the Growth fund’s most recent investment in Germany: Exporo, the leading digital platform for real estate investments [1].

Traditionally, real estate has been one of the biggest sources of wealth creation for most of the general public, with property accounting for a much higher percentage of financial assets for most people compared with stocks or bonds.

However, amid rising real estate prices in all major cities across Europe, it is becoming increasingly challenging for retail investors to invest in real estate. The gap is widening between those who have the financial means to buy assets in premium cities, and the rest of the population.

Existing alternative options to get exposure to this market such as mutual funds, closed-end funds, and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) do not replicate the benefit of owning a property directly. In other words, it is getting increasingly difficult for small investors to gain exposure to rental income through a transparent fee structure, while benefiting from rising real estate prices in the neighborhood of your choosing.

Despite all the buzz about the digitization of the economy, little has changed this century in what remains one of the world’s largest investment markets. Most real estate crowdfunding platforms that have emerged in recent years have typically faced their own set of challenges, such as transparency or investor liquidity. Many have consequently struggled to meet investor expectations due to the inherent challenge of operating at the frontier of finance and real estate while staying in touch with consumer needs.

When we first met the team at Exporo, we quickly understood that they had what it takes to succeed in this market. Exporo benefits from its strong tech culture which helps it quickly innovate and find ways to solve seemingly inextricable industry challenges. More importantly, Exporo has managed to blend its tech-DNA with a strong risk-management culture which would be more commonplace at a large asset manager than at a high-growth startup.

The results speak for themselves: €425m has been invested on behalf of 20,000 retail investors and already more than €135M of capital distributed back to investors since inception. In the meantime, Exporo has continued to roll-out new products, starting with their portfolio builder and real time trading platform to be released next. And this is only the beginning of the journey to democratize access to real estate investment for all, including the smallest investors, by bringing full transparency and liquidity to the real estate market. We’re looking forward to supporting them for years to come on their incredible mission.

Welcome to the Partech Family Exporo!

[1] Subject to BaFin and Bundesbank approval