Real estate investment startup Cadre has just raised a whopping $50 million in a Series B funding round, The Post has learned.
Cadre is an online investment portal co-founded by CEO Ryan Williams, who has had stints at Blackstone and Goldman Sachs. Thrive Capital’s Joshua Kushner and his brother, real estate developer Jared Kushner, are backers and strategic advisers.
Last year, it raised $18.3 million in a Series A round, led by Thrive and General Catalyst. Investors include Yuri Milner, Goldman Sachs, Founders Fund, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, the Ford Foundation and Khosla Ventures, among others.
Since the fall of 2014, Cadre has been quietly promoting itself to a select group of investors — institutions, foundations, endowments and high-net-worth individuals.
While Cadre has been tight-lipped about how it works, the startup bills itself as a matchmaker that ensures clients are paired with the right real estate deals using proprietary software and its own due-diligence staff.
Because real estate is a “high touch” investment, the due diligence on both the sponsors and the properties is key to Cadre’s maintaining both exclusivity and quality, along with a walled-off website that needs an invitation and vetting for entry, Williams said.
“Pristine sponsorship and great product — that is the mantra we have established,” he said. “And we also look to ensure we are confident with the product. The technology platform is an element we bring to complement the investment experience.”
Williams said investors have poured “hundreds of millions” of dollars into deals around the country being offered by top sponsors through Cadre.
“We needed a platform to connect investors with institutional quality real estate outside the prevailing fund model,” Williams said. “I could more efficiently connect investors to quality investments.”
Cadre is also disrupting the model by charging lower prices, said one investor, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Williams, a Louisiana native who is being described as a “rock star” by his backers, has built an in-house team with offices in Soho that “can be creative and strategic and handle complicated investment structures.”
Michael Fascitelli, former CEO of Vornado Realty Trust and now heading his own MDF Capital, is on the investment committee that helps advise, oversee and provide feedback on deal opportunities. Andrew Farkas of Island Capital also invested in the company.
Williams says Cadre works across the capital stack on both new and existing transactions.
“We’ve been primarily focused on existing cash flowing opportunities,” he said.
