WeWork, JLL invest in Israeli property tech start-up Jones

Additional investors include New York-based MetaProp Ventures, American-Israeli Ground Up Ventures and California-headquartered 500 Startups.

OCTOBER 15, 2019 01:25

Jones co-founders Michael Rodman (L) and Omri Stern (R) (photo credit: JONES/PR) — Jones co-founders Michael Rodman (L) and Omri Stern (R)

(photo credit: JONES/PR)

Israeli-founded property start-up Jones has raised $4.6 million in funding, led by UK-based Hetz Ventures with participation from American property giants WeWork and JLL.

The investment, the company says, completes an $8m. seed round to accelerate the adoption of its software automating and simplifying the receipt of insurance certificates by commercial real estate companies.

Additional investors include New York-based MetaProp Ventures, American-Israeli Ground Up Ventures and California-headquartered 500 Startups.

Currently in operation at more than 500 office buildings in the United States, including properties belonging to Google and Amazon, Jones’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform aims to facilitate compliance with regulations ranging from construction to development, leases and facility management.

Co-founded in 2016 by Harvard Business School graduate Omri Stern and Michael Rodman, the start-up employs 52 workers at its Tel Aviv and New York City offices. Since securing initial investment earlier this year, Jones says it has enjoyed 20% month-over-month growth and now plans to double its workforce.

“We believe the on-demand economy is coming to commercial real estate, and that means insurance workflows need to be rebuilt for simplicity,” said Jones CEO and co-founder Omri Stern. “Real estate managers, tenants and vendors deserve an effortless and transparent experience when completing the insurance approval process. Jones is building the compliance network where every transaction is like ordering an Uber.”

JLL, a Fortune 500 commercial real estate services firm, is currently rolling out Jones’s solution across hundreds of its properties.

The Chicago-headquartered company will invest in Jones through JLL Spark, its venture fund division that operates a $100m. fund to invest in property technology companies worldwide.

“Jones’ growth, from our first two pilots together to now deploying across hundreds of JLL office and retail buildings, is a testament to their focus and ability to execute on this substantial market opportunity,” said JLL Spark co-CEO Mihir Shah. “We’re thrilled to continue our partnership as they scale their platform to reduce the friction of insurance workflows for the real estate industry.”