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Mexico is emerging as an intriguing opportunity for those in the commercial & industrial real estate market. With a population surpassing 129 million and its strategic location next to the United States, the country is steadily attracting attention, especially with the growing demand influenced by nearshoring dynamics. This demand is evident with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increasing YOY in Q1 2023 by 48% totalling just under $20 Billion dollars (Fitchratings).
Trust the Data
There is no question that “nearshoring” is significantly enhancing the fundamentals and investment appeal of Mexican industrial real estate, driven by shifting supply chain strategies favoring proximity to the U.S. market. The Fitch Ratings’ chart below depicts the increased demand for CRE properties in some of the largest metropolitan markets in Mexico.
However, with the increased demand for commercial properties in Mexico the challenges that come with property management in emerging markets still remain. Many of these include inefficient and time-consuming administrative tasks stemming from a lack of integrated financial data from properties.
What is Vertebra?
Enter Vertebra, a software solution specifically designed for commercial & industrial administrative property management in Latin America, with a strong focus on Mexico.
CRE Fund to SAAS
The inspiration for Vertebra came from the founders' own experience managing a Commercial Real Estate (CRE) fund that included strip malls and warehouses. “We experienced first hand the admin inefficiencies of managing a strip mall / warehouse when we first started Vertebra as a CRE fund 3 years ago,” Jose Pablo told VC Mexico.
Recognizing this widespread issue, they (Vertebra) set out to create a solution.
“At Vertebra, we're tackling the pervasive problem of manual and inefficient administrative tasks. These paper trails and repetitive processes hold businesses back. That's why we're building a solution – Vertebra. Vertebra transforms these tasks by digitizing and automating them, enhancing business productivity. We (Vertebra) provide a platform where landlords, tenants, and property management teams can centralize data and communicate seamlessly. Our goal is to empower our clients by saving them precious time” - Jose Pablo Torres (Co-Founder and CEO Vertebra)
Boosting Productivity in Property Management
Vertebra’s current platform includes 7 modules: contracts, documents, payments, maintenance, data dashboards and reports, multi-user chat, asset management.
The team is working on implementing AI to integrate with their current modules like invoice & automated payment collections, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for customers' docs & contracts, a chatbot for multi-users to automate processes and automated rent & services payments. Other complementary features include rent roll and property fact sheets. The leadership team is also planning on implementing additional financial and brokerage services in the near future.
Founders
Vertebra: Simplifying Property Management from A to Z
Vertebra goes beyond just automating tasks. Vertebra offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to transform how owners/operators/tenants manage commercial and industrial properties:
- Maintenance Made Easy: Plan, schedule, submit and track tickets for all maintenance needs in one central location. Vertebra facilitates communication between tenants, owners, internal staff, and external contractors, ensuring everyone is informed and on the same page.
- Never Miss a Deadline: Stay on top of rent expiration, contracts, payments, and more. Vertebra sends automated reminders via email, chat or notification guaranteeing all parties are always informed and avoid last-minute scrambling.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Gain valuable insights with real-time data dashboards and automated data reports. Vertebra empowers them to make informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date information.
- Tenant Engagement: Provide a user-friendly platform for tenants to submit maintenance requests, communicate via chat and track progress updates. This fosters better communication and streamlines the process for everyone replacing whatsapps, emails, phone calls, etc.
- Security and Compliance: Rest assured that their data is protected. Vertebra adheres to all privacy regulations, guaranteeing complete ownership and access to their information.
Vertebra: Learning from Early Assumptions
Like many startups, Vertebra has evolved. “We wanted to first serve smaller sized properties, but realized that larger scale properties have the biggest pain points,” Jose Pablo explained to VC Mexico, “Initially, we considered launching as a marketplace offering SaaS solutions that included brokerage and financial services. However, we chose to concentrate on addressing the primary pain point (administrative property management), planning to introduce complementary services later. Our initial customer focus was solely on landlords, but we quickly realized that tenants and administrative teams also greatly benefit from our solutions”
Funding
2024, BuenTrip Ventures + starting their pre-seed roadshow in the coming weeks
Market Opportunity
The Latin America commercial and industrial real estate market is expected to record a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of over 4% during the forecast period 2022-2027. This indicates a steady growth in the demand for these types of properties across the region (Mordor Intelligence).
Mexico exemplifies this trend. The commercial real estate market in Mexico has grown since 2018, despite contracting during the coronavirus pandemic. As of Dec. 2023, the value of commercial real estate in Mexico was estimated at 507 billion U.S. dollars, up from just under 400 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. (Statista).
Moreover, in 2022 Mexico surpassed China for the United States largest manufacturing trading partner, rising to just 15.2% of all US manufacturing trade. Further, if “3% of China’s industrial gross leasable area shifted to Mexico it would double Mexico’s industrial market footprint (Thornburg).
Vertebra is positioned to become a vital SAAS platform used by property management companies and landlords/tenants/administrators in Mexico. By helping businesses and users save time, make data driven decisions in real-time, and streamline communication & data with other parties, Vertebra can capitalize on an already rapidly expanding market as industrial and manufacturing companies continue to target Mexico following the Covid-19 pandemic.
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