Blockchain-Based Real Estate Investment Platform Raises $7.5M in New Funding

By Jordi Lippe-McGraw Jordi Lippe-McGraw has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team
Published on June 6, 2022

With real estate a hot topic these days, everyone is interested in what will happen next to the market. Homeownership is considered a significant part of the “American Dream.” But with inflation steadily increasing, the housing supply crisis, and institutional participation in the residential real estate market. As a result, it’s increasingly difficult to invest in or own property. Well, it seems the future is in technology.

Parcl—the blockchain-based real estate platform that allows users to invest in a digital square foot of physical real estate in the most desirable neighborhoods—announced a $7.5M strategic funding round. That includes new investors, including Fifth Wall (the firm’s first venture into web3) and JAWS, the family office of Barry Sternlicht. 

With this funding, it’s clear investors see a major opportunity in this new form of real estate. But how does it work exactly? 

Parcl is introducing a new type of real estate investing, which before the advent of web3 and blockchain technology, was not possible until now. The platform enables users to trade the value of general areas such as neighborhoods or cities, effectively gaining exposure to multiple real estate markets at once without the burdens of owning or transacting hard assets. While homeownership rates are at 20-year record lows, the dream of homeownership is out of reach for many. The company hopes to find a way to deliver real estate to all, especially those who are currently locked out of the market, through its new investment model. 

No minimum investment is required. It offers immediate liquidity and carries low transaction fees. Basically, users can trade neighborhoods just like they trade Bitcoin or other crypto assets.

Now, the new funding will help accelerate growth over the next few months. Earlier this year, they held their first testnet (over 70,000 unique visitors and over 300,000 on-chain transactions on Solana’s devnet). In addition, they launched the Homeowners Association (HOA) NFT, a collection of 7,777 unique NFTs inspired by four cities where they are launching new markets, such as Miami and Phoenix.

“As we work towards our goal of providing everyone in the world with the opportunity to invest in real estate, key partnerships across the industry will be critical to our success and that of our users,” said Trevor Bacon, Parcl Co-Founder and CEO. “We’re thrilled to have the support of leading proptech and data-centric VC firms as we utilize blockchain technology and web3 to reimagine real estate investing.”

Dan Wenhold, Partner at Fifth Wall, added, “Our investment illustrates our confidence that Parcl’s platform makes real estate investing more accessible to all. We’re thrilled to partner with the Parcl team as they democratize real estate investing.”

The latest strategic financing round comes after Parcl’s $4.1M Series Seed round that closed in late 2021. Archetype led it with other funding from Dragonfly Capital, ParaFi, and Shima Capital, among others. The first round was used to build out Parcl’s team, beta product, and marketing goals. Since receiving that initial investment, the company hired more than 10 new team members.

By Jordi Lippe-McGraw Jordi Lippe-McGraw has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team

Jordi Lippe-McGraw is a News Columnist at Grit Daily. A multi-faceted NYC-based journalist, her work on topics from travel to finance have been featured in the New York Times, WSJ Magazine, TODAY, Conde Nast Traveler, and she has appeared on TODAY and MSNBC for her expertise. Jordi has also traveled to more than 30 countries on all 7 continents and is a certified coach teaching people how to leave the 9-to-5 behind.

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