Elmspring And Harrison Street Announce Partnership
Chicago (PRWEB) May 22, 2015 -- The elmspring accelerator, a seed-stage accelerator for real estate technology start-ups, is partnering with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, a real estate private equity firm. Harrison Street will play an advisory role to the elmspring tech start-up companies, as well as allow certain elmspring participants the ability to beta test their products within Harrison Street’s eco-system.
The elmspring accelerator program will soon begin its third session, session 2.1, providing selected start-ups seed capital, access to a network of professional mentors, office space at Chicago’s 1871 and an opportunity to demonstrate their products for serious investors at the culmination of the three-month program. The elmspring accelerator is also currently undergoing major growth as it seeks to begin accelerator programs nationally, first focusing on West Coast cities.
Harrison Street is a welcome addition to the elmspring team of industry leaders. The firm was founded in 2005 and, to date, has approximately $7.5 billion in Assets Under Management by means of a series of differentiated and innovative discretionary comingled funds. The firm has become the leader in the private equity market with its closed-end and open-end funds which target demographic real estate segments. Additionally, the firm has a public securities product, Harrison Street Securities LLC, which manages approximately $700 million in REIT securities. Christopher Merrill, the co-founder of Harrison Street, will join elmspring’s Board of Directors and will participate as an advisor to the startups.
“Innovation has been the backbone of Harrison Street since its founding,” says Harrison Street co-founder, President and CEO, Christopher Merrill. “It has taken a while for this industry to catch up with emerging technologies, but we need to anticipate game-changing innovations that could enhance productivity and results while leaving less adaptive investment strategies in the past. We’re happy to be part of what elmspring is building, and look forward to assisting entrepreneurs build their dreams and the ideas that will shape the real estate business for all those involved.”
Says elmspring CEO Thomas Bretz, “Our partnership with Harrison Street builds on the model we’re establishing for elmspring: to develop great ideas within a supportive community of top professionals. Christopher Merrill and his team are some of the most current, savvy and successful investors in this industry. I cannot overstate what a privilege it is for elmspring and our start-ups to have access to this level of expertise and perspective.”
The elmspring accelerator is now accepting applications for session 2.1 until June 19, 2015. Please visit elmspringaccelerator.com for more information.
Colleen O'Toole, elmspring, http://www.elmspringaccelerator.com, 415.952.5448, [email protected]
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