NexusCrowd has closed Canada's first online investment offering for commercial real estate. The issue was quickly sold out with significant investor demand across the country and internationally.
The project provided accredited investors with the opportunity to participate in the development of a CAD100 million retail mall in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
NexusCrowd is the first investment platform in Canada to provide accredited investors with exclusive access to co-invest alongside institutional investors in deals that have reached at least 50% of their funding target. It also provides private equity institutions with a "frictionless" way to access additional capital.
"We are pleased with the strong investor interest in this initial project," says Hitesh Rathod, co-founder and CEO of NexusCrowd. "This deal demonstrates the efficiency of our platform, and we look forward to providing investors with exclusive access to many more high-quality investment opportunities, that were previously inaccessible to them."
NexusCrowd's first investment opportunity enabled investors to participate in the development of a CAD100 million retail mall located on a 5.7 acre site in Mississauga, Ontario. The institutional partner, Terracap Investments Inc., has over 30 years of commercial real estate development experience across North America and expects to finish construction of the project by the end of 2017. The 238,000 square foot two-storey mall will be anchored by a tier 1 bank and a large supermarket.
"As experienced private equity investors and managers, we believe in the potential for equity crowdfunding to offer a solution to a problem that all private capital managers have – how to access new sources of capital cost-effectively and efficiently," says Wayne Humphries, Chief Investment Officer of Terracap Investments. "Our partnership with NexusCrowd allows us to solve this problem without changing our business model or incurring additional costs. We see this benefit as a historic innovation in private capital markets and believe it will accelerate our capital-raising capabilities," added Mr. Humphries.
