Scott Goodman, a real estate president and boutique VC partner, has found a pair of new property technology startups to work with through his investment firm's second fund.
Goodman founded the investment firm GOS Capital in 2021. The firm closed investments in four startups in early May, the first deals out of GOS Capital Fund II.
Each of those startups operates in the field of property technology, or 'prop-tech' — the use of technology to evolve or improve the real estate market. Now, GOS Capital's second fund has new deals with a pair of companies:
- Integrated Projects, a New York-based startup that creates digital models of different builds and spaces.
- Parkquility, a Dallas-based startup with an Internet of Things-enabled platform to manage parking at real estate properties.
GOS Capital's investments in Integrated Projects and Parkquility mark the fifth and sixth deals out of the firm's second fund. Each of its first four deals ranged in size between $25,000 to $100,000, and Goodman told Albuquerque Business First its investments into Integrated Projects and Parkquility fall on the lower end of the same range.
Goodman said he connected with Integrated Projects founder, Jose Cruz Jr., through the co-founder of Cuby Technologies, a different startup GOS Capital invested in. He connected with Abhishek Anand, co-founder of Parkquility, in a similar way — word of mouth through another entrepreneur.
"One thing I've learned as a fund manager is that when you find an entrepreneur that you like, a lot of times they know other good entrepreneurs," Goodman said. "Word of mouth helps get your foot in the door. I like to have entrepreneurs connect me with other entrepreneurs."
He wants to use those two startups' technologies at properties operated by Goodman Realty, where he's president. For instance, the Albuquerque-based real estate firm could use Integrated Projects' digital modeling platform to show prospective tenants at Winrock Town Center, a commercial development off Louisiana Boulevard in Albuquerque just north of Interstate 25, what available spaces look like without them having to visit in-person.
And Parkquility, which tracks parked cars, could help alleviate parking troubles at a Goodman Realty property in Colorado Springs, an approximately 90,000-square-foot retail and office development. Oftentimes employees of businesses at the property will take up customer parking spots; Parkquility's tech could cut down on that.
"The idea of [Goodman] being involved and being a client and then investing money, but also being able to get that exposure to his network, that's the biggest benefit I see as a real estate company of working with Scott [Goodman] and GOS Capital," Anand told Business First.
Anand added he hopes to roll out the project at the Colorado Springs development soon. Founded in 2017 and operational in 2018, Parkquility has nine unique customers currently with deployments at over 100 locations, primarily in Texas and Florida.
Colorado Springs, and other Goodman Realty developments, would be the startup's first exposure to the Southwest.
"Wherever there is parking infrastructure involved, we are relevant for that space," he said. "So I would imagine that we would be working with Goodman on many opportunities."
"None of those opportunities are discussed in detail yet," he added. "We are waiting to see how the first project goes, and then obviously I would imagine there are a ton of opportunities outside of that."
With the fifth and sixth deals now closed out of GOS Capital Fund II, Goodman is hoping for around a dozen more. He's targeting $1 million through the second fund, and said GOS Capital's third fund could launch in 2025 once Fund II's money is fully deployed.
Goodman has raised about a third of that $1 million target for GOS Capital Fund II and wants to close it in January.
"It's a tough time for everyone right now. Startups are having a hard time," Goodman said. "Seeing how it's one of the toughest times to invest, I think we're making good progress."
