Hearst Ventures invested in Geophy as the commercial real estate appraisal platform eyes expansion in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Netherlands-based real estate appraisal software producer Geophy attracted $33m yesterday in a series B round backed by Hearst Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of media group Hearst.

Venture capital firm Index Ventures led the round with participation from Inkef Capital, a VC investment vehicle backed by pension funds ABP Asset Management and Omers. Geophy described Hearst Ventures and Inkef as existing backers but did not provide additional details.

Founded in 2014, Geophy markets a software platform that helps users appraise commercial real estate, deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to provide reliable property valuations.

The platform aggregates public and privately-held information from sources including satellite images, macroeconomic indices and sales data, and exploits data science to visually present the results on a geospatial map.

Geophy currently has approximately 100 employees across its headquarters in Delft and its offices in London, New York and Kaunas in Lithuania.

The series B capital will support the company’s US and European expansion plans ahead of an entry into the Asia Pacific region within the next year. Jan Hammer, a partner at Index Ventures, has joined Geophy’s board in conjunction with the firm’s investment.

Van den Dries, chief executive of GeoPhy, said: “Real estate is foundational to all areas of economic activity – to everyday life, in fact – but much of it is based on inaccurate or biased data.

“Furthermore, there is an information asymmetry that distorts the market and leads to volatility. By providing a quicker, more reliable and intelligent service, GeoPhy helps its customers make better decisions, and promotes a better functioning market.”

GeoPhy had secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Inkef Capital in 2016 as part of a strategic partnership with APG Asset Management that allowed the latter to apply GeoPhy’s technology within its commercial property department.