We're pleased to announce that the LAB Ventures PropTech Fund has invested in Acre Homes, a startup that aims to provide more flexible and affordable ways for people to buy a home, creating a new class of home ownership that bridges the gap between investors and tenants. By investing alongside homeowners, institutional investors can generate higher returns and access more diverse SFR inventory. Acre’s residents can save money compared to a traditional mortgage, or access a larger home, while still building wealth and enjoying greater flexibility.
Acre's online platform enables users to coinvest in the purchase of their desired home with much less than the typical 20% down payment. Users can purchase the rest of the property from Acre at the market price at the end of their rental term, cash out, or transfer their equity to a different home with Acre without the typical transaction costs. Investors benefit from a diversified portfolio of SFRs in a variety of locations with favorable demographics and supply/demand dynamics, with longer term tenants who share skin in the game, improving long-term economics of renting.
"We’ve been looking at a lot of new models for fractional home ownership, and we believe Acre provides hands-down the best consumer value proposition. Mike and Kent have built a first rate team with deep experience in the capital markets for residential real estate and we are excited to be along for the ride,” said Tigre Wenrich, CEO of LAB Ventures.
Acre was founded by Mike Schneider, Kent Keirsey, Irene Tollinger and Pete Crawford. Co-founder and CEO Mike Schneider began his venture capital career at Sovereign Capital. He and Kent together previously founded “First”, a platform designed to help real estate professionals win business by focusing their time on the right people within their existing network. They sold First to RE/MAX in 2019.
LAB Ventures works strategically with early stage PropTech startups and investors from the Real Estate and Construction industries providing them access to capital, corporate development, customers, innovation and outsized returns through venture capital investments.
