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Venture activity is slowing down around proptech. But it hasn’t stopped.
This is especially true at real estate technology-focused Fifth Wall and within its $500 million Climate Fund.
The fund’s most recent emphasis is on RoadRunner Recycling which it funded $20 million in a Series D round, according to a Nov. 15 press release sent to Inman.
RoadRunner offers a technology-driven approach to sustainable waste management and recycling for large commercial enterprises, such as commercial property developments and rental communities.
“RoadRunner’s digitally enabled platform is a one-stop-shop for its customers to recycle more while spending less,” said Jennifer Place, principal on The Climate Technology Investment Team at Fifth Wall, in the press release. “Our robust limited partner network represents some of the world’s most notable global owners and operators of real estate who will undoubtedly benefit from their game-changing approach to driving greater landfill diversion.”
RoadRunner uses real-time data feeds to streamline when, how and where waste and recycling containers are collected and delivered. Its technology extends into automatically knowing when industry clients are in most need of pick-ups based on business activity. It also handles item separation and addresses material contamination.
The company’s backing is a result of Fifth Wall’s July 2022 closing on the Climate Fund, a deep trove of funds targeting technology to improve how real estate interacts with the environment.
“The fund is the largest private fund formed to de-carbonize the real estate industry,” the company said in the announcement.
One of the industry’s most prolific financial backers of technology developed to advance the way real estate functions, Fifth Wall’s impact is widespread both domestically and abroad.
The fund stays centered on companies that offer ways to make everything about housing better, usually by consolidating the processes that drive it. It has backed innovative homebuilders motivated by wildfire, title and escrow technologies, digital notaries, iBuyers and fractional second home solutions.
The Climate Fund is a direct reflection of Fifth Wall’s prevailing brand message, which is supported heavily by its certification as B Corporation, a corporate entity that “meets high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency,” according to B Lab.
According to Architecture2030, an organization devoted to rethinking construction and its impact on the planet, real estate, or the “built environment,” generates nearly 50 percent of annual global CO2 emissions.
A number of companies have emerged to help homeowners and real estate agents better understand the impact today’s houses have on climate change. ClimateCheck helps homebuyers and sellers assess environmental risks associated with a home, meant for use prior to buying or as a tool for selling. AreaHub functions similarly, providing illustrated reports and bonafide research on every way the outside world can impact a relocation decision.
Real estate data provider ATTOM has launched a program to assess risk for every property in America, which is powered in part by ClimateCheck.
Fifth Wall has also backed proptechs Lessen, Veev, Flyhomes, Sundae and Hippo.
