Fifth Wall is the largest venture capital firm focused on technology for the global real estate industry.

Venture capital firm Fifth Wall has raised $500 million for its inaugural Climate Fund that seeks to help decarbonize global real estate through investments in software, hardware, renewable energy, energy storage, smart buildings, and carbon sequestration technologies. Investors included American Homes 4 Rent, BBVA, British Land, Camden Property Trust, CBRE, Cosan, The Durst Organization, Equity Residential, Hilton, Host Hotels & Resorts, Hudson Pacific Properties, Invitation Homes, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Kimco Realty Corporation, Lineage Ventures, MGM Resorts, NZ Super Fund, Osgoode Properties, and UDR, among others. (Businesswire)

The impact of the real estate industry on the environment

The real estate industry contributes about 40% of total global greenhouse gases when emissions from each phase of a building’s life cycle are taken into account. Yet, over the past decade, the industry has invested about $95 million only in R&D for climate technology.

By one estimate, a massive $18 trillion investment is required over the next decade to get the real estate industry to net-zero.

“There is a distinction between implementing existing technologies and investing in the new technologies that will allow the industry to reach true net-zero. Real estate organizations that prioritize R&D investment, like those invested in Fifth Wall’s Climate Fund, have developed a real competitive edge over their peers,” said Greg Smithies, Partner and Co-Lead of the Climate Investment team.

The Climate Fund has invested in nine startups till date, including low-carbon cement producer Brimstone, hydrogen-fuel producer Electric Hydrogen, home energy retrofitter Sealed and SPAN, which is reinventing the circuit panel.

The latest fund raise brings up Fifth Wall’s AUM to $3.2 billion.

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