Online CRE platform Lev raises $10 million in seed round

Lev, an online commercial real estate platform, has raised $10 million in a seed funding led by Trulia co-founder Pete Flint.

The Soho, NY-based start-up said that the funding will enable it to enhance its CRE platform, which aims to help investors build and close on the perfect capital stack for each transaction. Demand for Lev’s services has surged over the past year, with the company securing over $100 million transactions and is on track to increase that volume tenfold in 2021.

“We’re excited that 2020 turned out to be a fruitful year for Lev and that we’ve been able to win customers and partnerships because of our innovative technology and top-notch execution,” Lev CEO Yaakov Zar said. “Now, we have the resources and team we need to leverage the industry’s recovery as a powerful engine of further growth.”

Flint, the co-founder of online real estate marketplace Trulia and a managing partner at venture capital fund NFX, led the $10 million round. Other investors included JLL Spark and Caanan Partners, where former Loopnet CEO Rich Boyle is a general partner. Previous lead investors Animo Ventures and Ludlow Ventures also participated.

“As so many transactions move online, we believe there is a huge opportunity to evolve the commercial real estate transaction,” Flint said. “The team at Lev have proven that they have the vision and skills to drive this change. With their strong traction with customers and partners we’re really excited about building a compelling technology platform for the industry.”

“Lev is transforming commercial real estate financing in ways that are similar to what LoopNet did to property marketing and discovery 20 years ago. They are applying technology to bring transparency and efficiency to a massive market for the benefit of both borrowers and lenders in the CRE space. I’m excited to have the opportunity to share some of those lessons from our experience with a team as innovative as Lev’s,” Boyle said.