Tech-focused Fifth Wall’s $500 million climate fund stays hot

RoadRunner provides a technology-driven approach to sustainable waste management and recycling for large commercial enterprises, such as commercial real estate development and rental communities.

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Venture capital activity around proptech is slowing. But it didn’t stop there.

This is especially the case with Fifth Wall, which focuses on real estate technology, and its $500 million climate fund.

The fund’s most recent focus has been RoadRunner Recycling. 15 press releases sent to Inman.

RoadRunner provides a technology-driven approach to sustainable waste management and recycling for large commercial enterprises, such as commercial real estate development and rental communities.

“RoadRunner’s digital platform is a one-stop shop that enables clients to recover more while spending less,” said Jennifer Place, head of Fifth Wall’s climate technology investment team, in a press release. “Our strong limited partner network represents Some of the world’s most prominent global real estate owners and operators will undoubtedly benefit from their game-changing approach to driving greater landfill diversion.”

RoadRunner uses real-time data feeds to simplify when, how and where waste and recycling containers are collected and delivered. Its technology extends to automatically knowing when industry customers most need pick-ups based on business activity. It also handles item separation and addresses material contamination issues.

The firm’s backing is a result of Fifth Wall’s July 2022 closure of its Climate Fund, a large pool of money aimed at improving how real estate interacts with the environment through technology.

“The fund is the largest private equity fund established to decarbonize the real estate sector,” the firm said in the announcement.

Fifth Wall is one of the industry’s most prolific financial backers of technology developed to advance real estate functionality, with impact both nationally and internationally.

The fund has always been centered around companies that offer all the ways to improve housing, often by integrating processes that advance housing. It supports innovative homebuilders incentivized by wildfire, title and escrow technology, digital notaries, iBuyers and partial second home solutions.

The Climate Fund directly reflects Fifth Wall’s mainstream brand message, which is strongly supported by B Corporation certification, which B Lab says is a business entity that “meets high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency” .

According to Architecture2030, an organization dedicated to rethinking architecture and its impact on the planet, real estate or the ‘built environment’ generates nearly 50% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions.

A number of companies have emerged to help homeowners and real estate agents better understand the impact of today’s homes on climate change. ClimateCheck helps homebuyers and sellers assess the environmental risks associated with a home, for use prior to purchase or as a sales tool. AreaHub does something similar, offering illustrated reports and real-world research on the various ways the outside world can influence relocation decisions.

Real estate data provider ATTOM has launched a program to assess the risk of every property in the US, powered in part by ClimateCheck.

Fifth Wall has also invested in Proptechs Lessen, Veev, Flyhomes, Sundae and Hippo.

Email Craig Rowe



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