IMMO, the tech-enabled, vertically integrated real estate platform helping build portfolios of granular residential housing assets at speed and scale, has appointed Sandeep Bordia as its Chief Investment Strategist & Head of Research. Bordia’s appointment further supports IMMO on its mission to establish granular residential as a new asset class for investors while helping solve Europe’s housing crisis.
With more than 20 years’ industry experience, Bordia brings to IMMO nearly eight years of experience at real estate investment, development and operating platform Amherst Group. During that time, Bordia developed single-family rental (SFR) strategies and whitepapers which played a significant part in putting SFR on the map as an asset class in the US. Highly attuned to the driving forces shaping the real estate industry and experienced in applying research and data analytics to inform investment strategies, Bordia will be responsible for building out IMMO’s market intelligence framework used to assess the appeal of specific residential markets across Europe.
Launched in London in 2017 by co-founders Gigi Zappel (CEO) and Samantha Kempe (CIO), IMMO uses proprietary technology like digital diagnostics, 3D imaging and AI-based valuation for faster property acquisitions and homes to rent. Its end-to-end solution provides institutional investors with sourcing, acquisition, portfolio management, lettings and property management to drive performance and maximise returns. To address the lack of affordable, sustainably designed urban housing to buy and rent in the UK and across Europe, IMMO’s technology serves a dual purpose for investors and those inhabiting SFR homes.
“My position at IMMO is a hugely exciting one, both personally and professionally. The European real estate market differs significantly to the US, owing to factors like disparate jurisdictions, lower availability of data and less homogeneity, but it’s a challenge that together with the exceptional IMMO team, I’m confident we can overcome. There is huge potential to establish granular residential as an asset class in Europe, and one of my core ambitions and objectives is to make that happen”, Bordia says.
Bordia will head up economic research for IMMO which will see him develop insights into market forecasts to inform economic strategies and will take ownership of creating macro and micro investment theses for IMMO’s suite of investment products.
Gigi Zappel, Founder and CEO at IMMO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sandeep, a leading figure in single-family residential, and see his appointment as a significant milestone in our continued growth journey. Sandeep has been at the heart of Amherst’s success in reimagining the most fragmented and inefficient areas of the U.S. real estate market through proprietary technology and a commitment to revolutionising an archaic industry. As we seek to unlock this new asset class in Europe by using data-driven investment insights to acquire properties at scale, we are incredibly excited to be able to partner with Sandeep.”
To date, IMMO has raised $90.7 million in funding, most recently a $75 million Series B round in April 2022 – one of Europe’s largest proptech funding rounds. IMMO’s appointment of Sandeep Bordia is the latest in a row of senior appointments that will drive future growth such as ex-Round Hill Capital Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Capital Markets, Chris Chinaloy, former WeWork COO Arik Benzino and former Solaris Bank CTO Hima Mandali to run IMMO’s capital markets, operations and technology respectively.