AUSTIN, Texas--Andes STR and WEG Capital announced a closing of WEG-Andes Fund I, their inaugural real estate private equity fund. With leverage, the fund plans to acquire $25 million in single family properties beginning this month.
The fund is the first of its kind as a vehicle focused on helping investors gain exposure to a portfolio of short-term rental (STR) real estate properties for which Andes STR provides full turnkey services to source, market and manage the properties. The fund will focus on buying properties in the Orlando, FL area, a location with strong year-round demand and long-term fundamentals.
“It is incredibly hard to invest in Airbnb-style short-term rental real estate at scale, so we launched Andes STR to leverage cutting edge technology to help real estate investors enjoy the anticipated attractive returns that short-term rentals can provide. This fund demonstrates that investors want to invest in the asset class and find our turnkey solution, which leverages our award-winning technology, appealing,” said Sebastian Rivas, CEO and founder of Andes STR.
“Ever since beginning discussions with Andes in Q3 2021, we have been excited about the STR investment opportunity that we could provide to our existing, sophisticated client base,” commented Guillermo Arriagada, Partner at WEG Capital. “We couldn’t be happier with Andes STR’s cutting-edge technology, risk-adjusted return profile, and ambitious and talented executive team. In this period of economic turmoil, our clients have expressed strong interest in these assets that provide an inflation hedge with attractive upside and strong downside protection.”
Matias Duhart, Andes STR co-founder and Chief Investment Officer remarked: “We are thrilled to partner with WEG on our first institutional fund and look forward to working with them long into the future. The WEG partnership was natural, given our mutual connections and ability to connect sophisticated international investors with short-term rental properties. They also loved our tech-driven approach, using machine learning to find properties that show potential to outperform the average investment.”
It is anticipated that WEG-Andes Fund I will be deployed over the next year, with a projected investment time horizon of five years. Investors in WEG-Andes Fund I include sophisticated family offices and industry executives from North and South America as well as the Andes STR founders and WEG Capital Partners.
DLA Piper LLP served as outside fund counsel.
This press release is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to invest in any interest in WEG-Andes Fund I or any additional STR-related funds, nor shall there be any sale of any such interest in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Any such offer, solicitation or investment has been or will be structured to comply with applicable securities laws.
About Andes STR
Andes STR is an award-winning property management technology company backed by some of the largest and most prominent US VC firms. Andes is led by a world-class team on a mission to disrupt the world of real estate investing by transforming short-term rentals into an asset class that is easy to invest in and widely available. The company employs proprietary technology to offer investors return-oriented turnkey short-term rental investments. Andes was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Austin, TX. The team has experience investing in and managing portfolios of short-term rentals since 2018 across the US, Canada, and Chile. For more information, please visit https://andstr.com/.
About WEG Capital
WEG Capital is a global investment firm headquartered in Santiago, Chile, which provides financial services, corporate finance advisory and asset management services. The founding partners have more than 20 years of experience providing corporate finance, business strategy, alternative asset investment advising, and private debt structuring. WEG Capital invests responsibly on behalf of institutions and individuals with the goal of preserving capital, delivering attractive returns, and generating a positive impact for the community. For more information, please visit https://wegcapital.cl/