
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Summary: On the fourth episode of Season 8 of the Propcast, Louisa speaks with Liza Benson, covering her journey to becoming a partner at one of the most prominent female-led Venture Capital funds in the Real Estate Tech space, Moderne Ventures. In this episode you’ll hear how Liza balances the time being a board member of several companies whilst also raising $200 million in 2021. You’ll also hear about the plan for deployment and what Liza and the team look for when evaluating a PropTech business or a tech company. Lastly, you’ll hear about Liza’s personal experience with being a woman in the Proptech space, as well as a woman in Venture Capital and the effect of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within some of their portfolio companies.
Companies Mentioned:
Resources:
Shout Outs:
Key Insights From This Episode:
Keywords: Venture Capital, Real Estate Tech, Women, Investing
About Our Guests:
Liza Benson is a Partner with Moderne Ventures and helps lead and manage investment activity with particular focus on high-growth technology companies that can achieve rapid adoption and scale. Prior to Moderne, Liza was a Partner with StarVest Partners, focused on expansion stage B2B SaaS investments. Previously, Liza was a Managing Director of Highbridge Principals Strategies and invested primarily in online video, digital media, and marketing technologies and prior to that she was a Managing Director with Bear Stearns’ Constellation Growth Capital and an investment banker at Patricof & Co and First Union where she started her career.
About Our Host
Louisa Dickins
https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisa-dickins-ab065392/?originalSubdomain=uk
Louisa started her career in property working at a well-known estate agency in London. Realising her people skills, she moved over to Lloyd May to pursue a career in recruitment. She now is a Director at LMRE, who are a specialist recruitment firm driven by PropTech and recruitment professionals, and Louisa oversees their 5 core areas. Louisa co-founded LMRE and provides a constructive recruitment platform to the new disruptors in real estate. Louisa is also on the board of Directors at UK PropTech Association (UKPA).
About LMRE
www.lmre.tech
LMRE believe there is a better way to recruit. LMRE focus on a more comprehensive, client led focus delivering exceptional talent to the place at the time. They are passionate about the industry and passionate about people's careers. LMRE spend time with each client to become and an extension of the business, and their transparency and core values help them grow with the sector. LMRE simplify recruitment and innovate with our clients and evolve the people driven, PropTech community.
Timestamps:
[02:00] You started off in investment banking, at First Union and then a part of StarVest partners. How did you come to Moderne Venture and meeting your partner, Constance?
[05:50] What makes Moderne unique, besides the 2 female leaders, and what does that mean to you? Is there a set mission behind the fund?
[8:05] Some of your strategic investors include; Avalon Bay Communities, Greystar and leading real estate companies such as Oak Tree Capital Management. Constance generated a lot of these herself but how do you continue to support them?
[10:10] You have got about 700 real estate execs of which some notable names are Icon Port, Hippo and Betta Mortage covering real estate, mortgage, finance and insurance. Is there anything Moderne Venture looks for when evaluating a company?
[13:10] You are on various boards as well like Widevine and Webify. What is it like balancing all of this and being on the board of various companies?
[16:15] Is there any advice that you can give to woman looking to get into the investment space, whether they're coming from the banking side, the consultancy side, the venture capital side?
[17:55] Are there any positive experiences personally for you or any successful changes your various portfolio companies have implemented to ensure DEI?
[19:55] The ‘LMRE’ part, Louisa asks the guests to talk about:
Sponsors
CREtech
Check out CREtech+, the first streaming platform devoted to innovation and technology in the built world, featuring new weekly videos with the world's leading real estate and tech professionals.
The first month of streaming is free, and when you use the code LMRE you’ll also receive 25% off the second month.
Visit plus.cretech.com for more.
Launch Your Own Podcast
Kopus.com is the leading podcast production and strategic content company for brands, organisations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right strategy, equipment, training, and guidance and content to ensure you sound amazing while speaking to your niche audience and networking with your perfect clients. Get in touch [email protected]
4.7
1414 ratings
Summary: On the fourth episode of Season 8 of the Propcast, Louisa speaks with Liza Benson, covering her journey to becoming a partner at one of the most prominent female-led Venture Capital funds in the Real Estate Tech space, Moderne Ventures. In this episode you’ll hear how Liza balances the time being a board member of several companies whilst also raising $200 million in 2021. You’ll also hear about the plan for deployment and what Liza and the team look for when evaluating a PropTech business or a tech company. Lastly, you’ll hear about Liza’s personal experience with being a woman in the Proptech space, as well as a woman in Venture Capital and the effect of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within some of their portfolio companies.
Companies Mentioned:
Resources:
Shout Outs:
Key Insights From This Episode:
Keywords: Venture Capital, Real Estate Tech, Women, Investing
About Our Guests:
Liza Benson is a Partner with Moderne Ventures and helps lead and manage investment activity with particular focus on high-growth technology companies that can achieve rapid adoption and scale. Prior to Moderne, Liza was a Partner with StarVest Partners, focused on expansion stage B2B SaaS investments. Previously, Liza was a Managing Director of Highbridge Principals Strategies and invested primarily in online video, digital media, and marketing technologies and prior to that she was a Managing Director with Bear Stearns’ Constellation Growth Capital and an investment banker at Patricof & Co and First Union where she started her career.
About Our Host
Louisa Dickins
https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisa-dickins-ab065392/?originalSubdomain=uk
Louisa started her career in property working at a well-known estate agency in London. Realising her people skills, she moved over to Lloyd May to pursue a career in recruitment. She now is a Director at LMRE, who are a specialist recruitment firm driven by PropTech and recruitment professionals, and Louisa oversees their 5 core areas. Louisa co-founded LMRE and provides a constructive recruitment platform to the new disruptors in real estate. Louisa is also on the board of Directors at UK PropTech Association (UKPA).
About LMRE
www.lmre.tech
LMRE believe there is a better way to recruit. LMRE focus on a more comprehensive, client led focus delivering exceptional talent to the place at the time. They are passionate about the industry and passionate about people's careers. LMRE spend time with each client to become and an extension of the business, and their transparency and core values help them grow with the sector. LMRE simplify recruitment and innovate with our clients and evolve the people driven, PropTech community.
Timestamps:
[02:00] You started off in investment banking, at First Union and then a part of StarVest partners. How did you come to Moderne Venture and meeting your partner, Constance?
[05:50] What makes Moderne unique, besides the 2 female leaders, and what does that mean to you? Is there a set mission behind the fund?
[8:05] Some of your strategic investors include; Avalon Bay Communities, Greystar and leading real estate companies such as Oak Tree Capital Management. Constance generated a lot of these herself but how do you continue to support them?
[10:10] You have got about 700 real estate execs of which some notable names are Icon Port, Hippo and Betta Mortage covering real estate, mortgage, finance and insurance. Is there anything Moderne Venture looks for when evaluating a company?
[13:10] You are on various boards as well like Widevine and Webify. What is it like balancing all of this and being on the board of various companies?
[16:15] Is there any advice that you can give to woman looking to get into the investment space, whether they're coming from the banking side, the consultancy side, the venture capital side?
[17:55] Are there any positive experiences personally for you or any successful changes your various portfolio companies have implemented to ensure DEI?
[19:55] The ‘LMRE’ part, Louisa asks the guests to talk about:
Sponsors
CREtech
Check out CREtech+, the first streaming platform devoted to innovation and technology in the built world, featuring new weekly videos with the world's leading real estate and tech professionals.
The first month of streaming is free, and when you use the code LMRE you’ll also receive 25% off the second month.
Visit plus.cretech.com for more.
Launch Your Own Podcast
Kopus.com is the leading podcast production and strategic content company for brands, organisations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right strategy, equipment, training, and guidance and content to ensure you sound amazing while speaking to your niche audience and networking with your perfect clients. Get in touch [email protected]