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Clelia Warburg Peters wants women to know that in their careers, what they want is there for the taking. 

Peters is a managing partner for Era Ventures, a New York City-based investment firm that focuses on proptech and contech startups. The company announced its inaugural, $88 million fund on Sept. 18.

Here, Peters talks with Construction Dive about the current state of venture capital, how contech fits into that broader landscape and the best approach for growing diversity in technology and construction.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

CONSTRUCTION DIVE: What does the overall venture capital space look like right now?

CLELIA WARBURG PETERS: I think we are probably at the tail end of a pretty meaningful correction coming out of the 2022 period.

A headshot of Clelia Warburg Peters

Clelia Warburg Peters

Permission granted by Era Ventures

 

I’ve been investing in this broader category for more than 10 years, and I think for a lot of the first seven or eight years, we were in a true bull market in the venture space. That meant that it was almost like, if you were a company with a pulse, you could probably raise money. And that was certainly not just true for proptech. That was true across the board in venture.

Then we had this really meaningful market correction in 2022, starting with the public markets and kind of flowing backwards. That’s had a lot of impacts.

Where does this environment leave construction technology now?

I still think construction tech is an area of a lot of interest for a lot of not just specialist venture capitalists, but generalist VCs as well. 

What I am hopeful about is that the correction in the broader venture market is going to mean that many of the companies that are built now are actually built with more thoughtfulness and discipline, and that there’s a little more rigor applied to investing decisions on the part of investors, but also, frankly, growth decisions on the part of founders and CEOs, that it’s not a growth-at-all-costs environment.

With that said, I think that there’s a lot that generalist investors in particular don’t understand about the sometimes-complex dynamics of the construction industry.

If you’re a generalist investor, you read about how construction, which is a huge driver of the economy, is also “less efficient” than it was 30 years ago. And you say, “Wow, there’s going to be lots of opportunity to just apply tech willy-nilly across this whole sector.”

You do that at your own peril, without understanding some of the very complex layers, relationships and systems that exist in the industry writ large today, which I think will continue to take a fair amount of time to change.

Construction and technology are both industries that are mostly populated by men. In your experience, what has it been like rising in your career in these fields?

My experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Personally, I feel like I have been supported by a lot of people, including a lot of mentors and friends who were, in most cases, male. But I think it is really important to acknowledge that that is not everyone’s experience.

This is an industry that I think historically has been — maybe it’s wrong to say it’s not that welcoming, because I think a lot of people in this industry do welcome more diversity in the industry — but just not very well structured to actually support that diversity.

I think that there is a distinction between feeling open to diversity and being welcoming of diversity when it shows up on your doorstep, which I think is a lot of what happened to me.

I was able to often get myself into the room, and then once I was in the room, I felt like people were really helpful and supportive to me in the room. But I think what we need to continue to think about is, what are the ways that this industry is structured in a way that isn’t supportive of people even getting into the room in the first place. Who are we trying to pull into the room?

I think this goes well beyond thinking about things like maternity leave or job pathways.

Also, what are the attributes that we assign to people that we think look successful, particularly in these industries, which have both been a macho industry for a long time?

What I will say is that real estate and construction are really relationship-driven industries, and I do think women often excel in relationship-driven industries.



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