The cost to purchase a home in the U.S. has increased significantly over the years and the same is true for commercial real estate. The price of office real estate, as of Q1 2022, is up 10 percent year-over-year. Retail real estate prices are also up 16 percent and the cost of industrial properties is up 30 percent. Although the commercial market is experiencing notable increases, a local tech-backed commercial real estate startup is offering solutions to make purchasing properties easier and faster.
On Thursday, Lev pulled in $170 million in fresh funding. This consists of a $70 million Series B round co-led by Parker89 and Cross River Digital Ventures and $100 million in debt financing from Cross River’s Strategic Direct Lending Group.
Lev’s technology helps buyers navigate financing their property purchases by digitally connecting them to thousands of lenders based on their needs. This process, according to the company, closes commercial real estate loans up to 3x faster than existing methods, which can take up to 100 days.
The startup will use its fresh funds to expand its product offerings and fuel research and development for its marketplace and end-to-end lending experiences. Additional funding will go toward hiring across all departments with nearly 40 roles currently available. Yaakov Zar, CEO and co-founder of Lev, told Built In via email that he expects the current 100-person team to double by the end of the year.
“Commercial real estate is one of the largest industries on the planet, and has somehow completely resisted the fintech revolution that has taken over virtually every other industry in the past decade,” Zar said in a statement. “We’ve been blessed with the right team, building the right products in a gigantic industry, and that’s the driver behind our continued growth.”
According to the startup, Lev closed nearly $1 billion in commercial real estate mortgages last year on top of the company growing 10x year-over-year.
