mogul (see Pulse 2.0 profile here) – a new real-estate investment platform transforming access to premium investment opportunities – recently announced the completion of a $3.6 million seed funding round, propelling the company’s overall funding to $4.2 million.
And mogul’s oversubscribed seed round – which upsized four times due to overwhelming investor interest – was led by Anitha Vadavatha (AY Ventures), with investments from Tim Draper & Associates, Draper B1, InterVest, Draper Dragon, Blizzard Fund, and several notable angel investors, including Rosie Rios, the 43rd Treasurer of the United States and notable executives from Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Carlyle, among others. mogul’s goal is to create a new paradigm of real estate investing, blending the enduring values of old money investing with the boldness, mentality, and technology of today’s generation.
From inside the walls of finance’s most prestigious club, the mogul founders sought ways to invest their personal capital into high-quality real estate. And they built it themselves when they found no solution that offered the caliber of deals they were trained to expect. mogul’s platform is built on radical transparency, institutional quality vetting, and a unique investment club structure. And since the platform’s beta launch in April 2023, mogul boasts a 20-26% projected Internal Rate of Return (IRR or Annualized Return) across real-estate properties offered. In comparison, the S&P 500 historically has yielded an average return of 9%. mogul stands at the forefront in the evolving real estate market – offering investors opportunities for financial growth through property ownership, underscoring the stability and lower volatility of real estate returns.
In the last few centuries, real estate has been the most prominent tool for wealth generation. And due to bidding wars, interest rate hikes, and shifts in home-buying demand, most people have been forced to the sidelines, wondering when or if they can ever tap into the asset class. Traditional real estate investing often requires substantial upfront capital and ongoing property management. mogul bridges old wealth traditions with new money appeal to offer a modern and hassle-free alternative for new or expert real estate investors.
This platform enables users to participate alongside fellow investment club members and vote on key decisions for the properties they’ve invested in. All mogul investment club members receive the same pro rata benefits of property ownership like appreciation, cash flow, and tax allowances. The platform’s infrastructure eliminates unnecessary complexities and fees for its users by utilizing the technology on the backend. Mogul users have the lowest barriers to entry on the market.
mogul’s leadership team have decades of experience, unrivaled expertise, and a proven track record of success. And the team is composed of senior alums from top tech, finance, and real estate institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Google, Capital One, and Lockheed Martin. Along with its market-leading executive team, mogul’s investors and advisors offer a prolific network of support and validate mogul’s ability to drive an outstanding experience for users.
mogul plans to use this seed funding round to develop new platform features while providing over $10M of value in single-family rental investment (SFR) properties by the end of 2023. And through its proprietary operating model, its team will scale into additional investment product offerings encompassing previously inaccessible asset classes for all investors.
KEY QUOTES:
“We extended our initial pre-seed investment to mogul’s latest funding round, something we only do with intense thoughtfulness because we fully believe in how mogul’s founding team is reshaping the real estate investment space and providing long-term wealth generation for its users. Creating stronger, more efficient investment opportunities through thoughtful technological solutions that address common investor pain points, mogul is setting a new standard for the industry.”
– Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Partner of Draper Associates an early investor in Tesla, Box, Twitch and others
“Starting with a modest pre-seed round, we grew mogul’s platform and user base on a differentiated value proposition and word of mouth. Closing out a 4x oversubscribed seed round through one of the most difficult fundraising environments in recent times is a testament to not only the demand for our product but the incredible leadership team we’ve been able to put in place. We plan to use this funding to help fuel our growth and add more properties to the platform – all of which undergo a rigorous vetting process thanks to the relentless spirit instilled in our leadership team from previous institutional experiences.”
– Alex Blackwood, Co-Founder and CEO of mogul
