Alasco receives $40 million

The company aims to digitize the real estate industry and make it more sustainable. Insight Partners and Lightrock are getting on board.

Munich-based start-up Alasco has set itself the goal of making the real estate industry more digital and sustainable. The company is now receiving financial help from two new investors, who are putting a total of 40 million US dollars into the start-up. The New York venture capital fund Insight Partners and the global private equity platform Lightrock, which specializes in sustainability, have joined the company. Rachel Geller, managing director at Insight Partners, will join Alasco's board.

The company plans to use the money to grow. To do so, Alasco plans to more than double its headcount next year, from 100 to 220, and the startup also plans to push ahead with its European expansion. "Expanding our international presence is the next logical step," says CEO Sebastian Schuon. "Real estate is a global industry that urgently needs digital solutions. We want to make our contribution here and show that the industry can make real progress. To this end, we are launching in the UK market in 2022."

Customers should be able to use the software to digitally manage the entire lifecycle of a property - from construction, to maintenance, to sale. In addition, sustainability is at the top of Alasco's list: customers should be able to make better decisions about the environmental impact of their software through the software. This was probably one of the points that finally convinced Christopher Steinau, Principal at Lightrock: "The real estate industry is one of the largest CO2 emitters in the world, accounting for 39 percent of the world's annual greenhouse gas emissions and consuming about 30 percent of the world's energy. We believe Alasco can bring about change in the industry (...)."