JLL Spark acquires SaaS-based real estate asset management company Stessa

Investment bolsters JLL's position as a catalyst for change in the real estate industry

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Mar 27, 2018, 08:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- JLL Spark, a division of JLL (NYSE: JLL), today announced its acquisition of Stessa, a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based real estate technology platform that allows investors in income properties to easily and cost-effectively track, manage and communicate the performance of their portfolios. This is the first strategic acquisition by JLL Spark since its inception and delivers on its mission to transform the real estate industry through technology-based innovation.

From left to right, Yishai Lerner (co-CEO of JLL Spark), Heath Silverman (CEO and co-founder of Stessa), Jonah Schwartz (CTO and co-founder of Stessa) and Mihir Shah (co-CEO of JLL Spark)

JLL has structured JLL Spark to operate independently and without the typical constraints of most corporate "innovation" or venture arms, providing the nimbleness and speed of a startup backed by JLL's expertise and resources. JLL Spark is led by Mihir Shah and Yishai Lerner, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with successful track records building and investing in tech companies, who have a direct line to the global CEO. JLL Spark complements JLL, allowing JLL's core business to be more productive and drive competitive advantage.

"Optimizing a real estate portfolio can involve tedious manual effort, which is why many investors see suboptimal returns," said Mihir Shah, co-CEO at JLL Spark. "We chose Stessa as our first acquisition because its innovative product fills a gap in the market for small-to-medium investors."

Built by real estate investors for real estate investors, Stessa (which is 'assets' spelled backwards) makes real estate asset management as easy as traditional investment categories like equities. While many tools provide straightforward valuation, performance benchmarking, real-time analysis and ongoing optimization to equity investors, little exists in real estate. Stessa's platform solves this problem, providing property owners with real-time views into their holdings, resulting in increased transparency across their real estate assets. The company also streamlines the endless paperwork and reporting requirements that burden the everyday investor.

"As real estate investors ourselves, we created Stessa to solve the biggest pain points associated with our own investments - ongoing asset management and portfolio optimization," said Heath Silverman, CEO and co-founder of Stessa. "The JLL Spark acquisition will allow us to scale quickly and broaden our reach."

Stessa has been in beta for the past year testing its product with a select group of early customers representing nearly half a billion dollars in income properties. Interested real estate investors can sign up at Stessa.com for Stessa's next generation release, which will be available soon.

For more information on Stessa and its product offerings, visit https://www.stessa.com/. For more details on JLL Spark, please visit https://spark.jll.com.

About JLL Spark
JLL Spark is dedicated to transforming the real estate industry through technology-based innovation. JLL Spark provides the nimbleness of a startup backed by JLL's expertise and resources. Led by experienced Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with successful track records building and investing in tech companies, JLL Spark's strategic proptech investments offer JLL the ability to provide innovative products to real estate owners and operators. JLL Spark was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit https://spark.jll.com.

About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2017, JLL had revenue of $7.9 billion; managed 4.6 billion square feet, or 423 million square meters; and completed investment sales, acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $170 billion. At the end of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of 82,000. As of December 31, 2017, LaSalle had $58.1 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.

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