Pi Labs appoints US partner

Proptech VC Pi Labs has appointed serial entrepreneur Ivan Ramirez as a venture partner, as part of its international expansion plans. Ramirez will be Pi Labs’ first US venture partner and is tasked with strengthening Pi Labs as “a gateway between global real estate firms and the rapidly evolving proptech universe”. Ramirez was the founder and chief executive of CommerceInterface, which he sold to Groupon in 2012, and has also held positions as VP of business development and wholesale at Overstock, co-founder, chief product officer and chief technology officer at Emoov and, most recently, chief product officer at Emaar. Pi Labs founder and chief executive Faisal Butt said: “As we continue to build out our word-class multidisciplinary team to serve both our portfolio companies and our LPs on a global scale, Ivan will become a valuable part of our network. We are investing in our team and bringing on the expertise to best support the start-ups we invest in and those real estate companies which have invested in Pi Labs.  “Ivan is both a commercial and a technical leader. He not only worked with large real estate owners to help drive digital transformation but, having sold his own tech start-up to Groupon, he has invaluable experience in starting, scaling and exiting a business. As Pi Labs’ proptech ecosystem continues to grow, we welcome learning from Ivan and the unique perspective he will bring to our already strong bench.” Ramirez added: “The lessons I have learnt as a founder, through my successes and my failures, and working with larger real estate and tech corporations in driving digital transformation will help Pi Labs strengthen its position as a gateway between traditional real estate and proptech. “I will be working closely with the various founders to help grow and shape their products and make them ready for deployment into large corporates. Proptech is still in its infancy, meaning there is real room for growth, and Europe is well positioned to emerge as a global leader in this space. “The real estate industry has started slowly understanding, accepting and adopting proptech, and I believe that Pi Labs is in a position to accelerate this pace by bridging start-ups and real estate corporations on this journey.” To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette