Zach Aarons (left) and Aaron Block.
Zach Aarons and Aaron Block
Co-founder and general partner; co-founder and managing partner at MetaProp
For venture capital firm MetaProp, the theme of 2024 has been — and is — cautious optimism.
“We’ve ramped up our investment cadence and pace substantially in `24,” said Zach Aarons, who co-founded MetaProp in 2015 with Aaron Block.
He compared this year to last year, where the theme of triage resounded. Portfolios were “less geared toward growth at all costs and more geared toward responsible, pragmatic growth and less spending to do it,” said Aarons. In 2024, conditions have been better — “but that’s not saying a lot,” he said — thanks to optimism that the markets are opening back up with liquidity and transactions.
Lately, MetaProp has focused its attention on both new companies and its existing accounts, investing in their expansions. Aarons, for instance, is working with companies to suggest better investments that reduce spending and focus priorities. Depending on the company, he may suggest hiring one customer service person instead of accounting for four sales development representatives in the budget.
As for new investments, MetaProp has homed in on yet another theme: the environment. “We’ve been very active, thematically, in the intersection of climate change associated with extreme weather, associated with … insurability, effectively for a number of commercial and residential assets in high-risk areas,” said Aarons.
Faura, one such organization in MetaProp’s investment portfolio, addresses indoor inspections digitally, helping insurance companies collect the necessary data to underwrite policies. Another, Demex, is predicting future insurance claims using an algorithm, employing former reinsurance and hedge fund professionals. These organizations, while tangential to real estate, relate to whether a property can get insurance, and represent one potential future direction for Metaprop’s investments.
Yet, while Aarons wants to do more in the overlap between insurance, climate and property, that’s not to say he — or MetaProp — is closed off to other investments. “We’re opportunistic,” said Aarons. “We look for the best entrepreneurs we can find and let them inspire us.”
