An Albuquerque-based early-stage investment firm has found a few national technology startups to invest in thanks to its founder's real estate ties.
Scott Goodman founded GOS Capital, a boutique investment firm, in 2021. He's also the president of Goodman Realty, an Albuquerque development firm with properties across the Southwest and parts of the Midwest.
It's this connection between investing in startups and real estate that has helped Goodman find partners for GOS Capital's second fund, which he said is targeting investments in 15 to 25 companies. Goodman wants the second fund to raise $1 million to execute on that plan.
Four startups have already received investment from GOS Capital's second fund. Those include:
- Cuby Technologies, a Delaware-based company making mobile micro-factories for constructing parts of buildings.
- Piñata, a New York-based company developing a mobile application that rewards renters for on-time payments.
- Placemakr, a Washington, D.C.-based destination travel company with locations in Maryland, Tennessee, New York, California and Washington, D.C.
- Obie, a Chicago-based real estate insurance technology company.
Each of these investments, which fell between $25,000 and $100,000, have gone into "property technology" companies. Property technology, or prop-tech, companies use technology to evolve or improve the real estate market.
For instance, Lily Liu, the CEO of Piñata, said her company partners with owners and operators of real estate assets to reward their tenants. She said Piñata could potentially partner with Goodman Realty in the future thanks to GOS Capital's early investment.
"I think that type of partnership is valuable for us as an early-stage company in the space," Liu said.
Aleksandr Gampel, a co-founder of Cuby Technologies, sees similar partnership potential with GOS Capital's investment. He told Albuquerque Business First he wants his company to launch one of its first mobile micro-factories in New Mexico within the next year through a contract with Goodman Realty.
Real estate developers, like Goodman Realty, would use the technology within Cuby's factories to build their properties, Gampel said.
"We're very much excited about New Mexico, both from the job creation standpoint and as a test market," he added. "The growth of housing demands and the lack of supply should be a really good case study for us."
