SoftBank is making a big bet on real estate tech. The Japanese telecom giant invested $450 million in Compass, a $2.2 billion real estate company shaking up the industry. Rob Lehman, Chief Revenue Officer at Compass, was with us to discuss what the deal means for the company.
With investments ranging from Uber to WeWork, SoftBank is one of the most influential investors in the tech community. Lehman explains that his company appealed to SoftBank because they recognized a technology gap in the real estate market that Compass was filling. He also points out Compass was an attractive investment because real estate is the largest asset globally.
With the new funding, Lehman says the company will focus on growth and continued investments in technology. When it comes to emerging technologies, Compass doesn't have plans for virtual reality. Instead, the company is more focused on artificial intelligence, says Lehman. In addition to technology, the new funding will go to breaking into tier one cities such as Atlanta and Phoenix, he adds.
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President Donald Trump is talking up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. While Trump has seized on similar announcements to show that his presidency is boosting the economy, there were already expectations of a massive buildout of data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI.
