Real estate and its related businesses are a massive asset class with healthy deal flows. With valuations in the startup sector coming off the heady projections of the past couple of years, this is a prime time to start seriously evaluating investment opportunities. Gaw Capital has about $100 million to deploy from its Growth Equity Fund I for the region. The pan-Asian fund closed last year at about $430 million, including co-investment commitments from limited partners. Its latest investment was in Singapore-based property marketplace 99 Group. Gaw Capital was the lead investor in the startup’s Series C round, committing $28 million of the $52 million raised in the round.
Gaw Capital was introduced to 99 Group by Mindworks, one of the startup’s earlier investors. The company has an extensive track record as an investor in commercial, industrial, and residential real estate developments. More recently, it has made investments in real estate-related businesses, such as brokerage and asset management platforms. Its investments include Beike, the mainland China-based housing transaction platform that listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2020. It is also an investor in Vietnamese property tech startup Propzy.