RXR Leads $200M Funding Round For View, Scott Rechler To Join Board
Smart glass company View Inc., which was under threat of delisting earlier this year, raised $200M in new funding to help chart its path to profitability.
The convertible note funding was led by RXR-affiliated investment vehicles, with participation from USAA Real Estate, Anson Funds and the Environmental Strategies Group of BNP Paribas Asset Management, among others, View announced in a release.
RXR Realty CEO Scott Rechler is joining the firm’s board of directors as part of the deal.
“With the products and operations already in place, this capital allows us to scale our business to broad market adoption and profitability,” View CEO Rao Mulpuri said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to welcome Scott to our Board of Directors. As the leader of one of the most innovative real estate developers, his knowledge of the real estate ecosystem, and his drive for positive change in the industry match perfectly with our mission.”
View announced it would go public on the Nasdaq in late 2020 via a $1.6B merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-sponsored special-purpose acquisition company. The deal injected $800M into View, but by May this year, it was facing delisting after accounting errors forced it to audit its previous financial reports.
Mulpuri said at the time he was not confident the company would be able to file the relevant reports it needed to meet the deadline to keep trading on the Nasdaq, but the company filed restated financials May 31.
At one point, the company was valued at as much as $2.24B, but it had fallen to $250M as of Wednesday’s close in New York, per Bloomberg. Its shares were up nearly 30% as of Thursday afternoon, but its value is still down more than 80% from its market debut.
Rechler said in the release announcing the deal that he plans to work with the company to rapidly scale it, describing smart windows as one of the most “impactful ways” to lower energy usage and carbon emissions from real estate. View’s smart windows are included as a way for developers to secure an investment tax credit within the Inflation Reduction Act passed this year.
Building owners in New York City are under pressure to find ways to bring down their emissions, with rules known as Local Law 97 to set emissions limits on large and midsized buildings starting in 2024 — and imposing fines on owners that exceed them.
