Wilshire Lane Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm aimed at proptech, announced raising $40 million in LP commitments with the first close of its debut fund, according to a press release.
New investors include J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Nile Capital Group, Schusterman Family Investments, TRB Advisors, First Close Partners, Asland Capital Partners and Bullock Capital. Efrem Kamen, founder of Pura Vida Investments also participated.
The fund also includes participation from anchor investor Morgan Properties, the largest private multifamily property owner in the U.S. Wilshire Lane Capital (WLC) recently announced its strategic partnership with Morgan Properties, which involved the two working together to identify the most viable startups to invest in for deploying technology across the multifamily ecosystem.
“Real estate is the largest asset class in the world. So of course large and attractive economic outcomes can occur when you combine the category with technology. In many ways, we feel that PropTech is next in line after FinTech and BioTech and we’re so honored to have this best-in-class slate of investment partners who share our excitement about the space,” stated Adam Demuyakor, Wilshire Lane Capital founder and Managing Partner in the release.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s investment was made part of its Project Spark, a $65 million initiative to back emerging managers of diverse backgrounds.
As a black-owned VC firm, the majority of Wilshire Lane Capital’s portfolio is unique in that in more than 80% of its companies have a founding member or management team that includes at least one woman or underrepresented minority, according to the release.
“Wilshire Lane Capital’s impressive team, domain expertise in the PropTech category and strong network of real estate partners proved compelling and we are pleased to have participated in the firm’s inaugural fund,” said Jamie Kramer, head of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Alternative Solutions Group and chair of the Project Spark investment committee.
WLC recently used some of this funding to invest in Jetty, a financial service company that aims to make renting homes affordable and flexible. The company has had a commercial relationship with Morgan Properties since 2020, highlighting the growing partnership between Wilshire Lane and its anchor investor.
The company also invested in black-owned fintech unicorn Esusu, metaverse real estate company Everyrealm and led fintech renter rewards company Piñata‘s Series A since announcing its partnership with Morgan Properties in January.
In other recent proptech news, MoxiWorks continued its proptech consolidation surge by purchasing lead-nurturing service provider ActivePipe. Funnel also raised a $36 million Series B to eliminate W2s and pay stubs from the rental process.