Concreit to connect the world with commercial real estate investing

Sean Hsieh, the Founder of startup Flowroute, only about a year after selling the startup, has started his next endeavor with a goal to use connect the world with commercial real estate investing.

Concreit is a soon-to-be-launched Seattle startup that will give investors the ability to invest in private buildings for as little as one dollar.

“When I talk to my friends about owning a building, they just stop and go, ‘I don’t even know what to think about that, because I can’t connect with that thought,'” Hsieh said. “We’re trying to bring deals that only millionaires have access to and give them to an everyday investor for very small dollar minimum.”

Concreit has raised nearly $1 million in funding from Unlock Venture Partners, a new Seattle-based firm co-led by longtime angel investor Andy Liu. Other Unlock portfolio companies include Crowd Cow, Make.TV and Possible Finance.

Hsieh started Concreit with Flowroute Co-Founder Jordan Levy and Rui Maximo, who was formerly CTO at blockchain startups LifeID and StormX. The company hopes to launch later this year.

The idea for Concreit was inspired by Hsieh’s own finances. “After selling Flowroute, I started to figure out how to diversify my portfolio,” said Hsieh. “And private commercial real estate became really interesting to me.” Hsieh sold Flowroute to West Corporation last year for an undisclosed sum.

Hsieh plans to use blockchain technology for certain aspects of Concreit, which could enable the startup to tokenize its position in certain investments. Concreit will be a mobile-first application with game-like elements geared toward millennial investors.

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