NEW YORK, June 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — StraightUp, an innovative real estate-focused platform giving investors access to previously unavailable development opportunities, announced today a merger with Slice, the first blockchain-based REIT for investors around the world. The merger will disrupt the real estate investing space, providing increased transparency and liquidity backed by secure blockchain technology and the tokenization of securities, opening new doors for international investors interested in prime U.S. real estate.

StraightUp was designed to democratize access to previously unattainable high-potential investment opportunities in New York City. As a result of merging with Slice, the new and improved platform will give international investors access to premium equity opportunities in desirable cities across the country, including New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Slice’s secure blockchain-powered platform allows foreign investors to immediately own equity in developments, providing a layer of security and trust that has been missing from the real estate investment space until now.

“Our goal at StraightUp was always to increase access to the real estate investment market for those who are not well-connected or the super-rich elite,” said Omer Amsel, co-founder and COO at StraightUp. “By merging with Slice, we now have access to their innovative technology and international investors, giving us the resources we need to further democratize real estate investments while maintaining our core value: transparency. We believe the future of real estate investing is rooted in a combination of new development and new technology, which is precisely what our merger with Slice brings to the market.”

To support Slice’s mission to make investing in small amounts both easy and affordable – which perfectly aligns with StraightUp’s core goal – Slice uses blockchain-powered tokens, which can be purchased by either fiat or cryptocurrency, to represent stakes in an investor’s real estate portfolio. By tokenizing assets, investors can easily identify the properties backing their investment, prove their ownership, receive returns in real-time, and freely exchange ownership with others on the blockchain.

“At Slice, we leverage innovative blockchain technology and the tokenization of securities to advance the state of real estate investing, a longstanding and classic investment option. Our vision is to be the largest issuer of real-estate backed compliant security tokens. We also prioritize working with regulators across all jurisdictions, ensuring our platform always offers top-notch security and compliance,” said Ari Shpanya of Slice. “Our merger with StraightUp will result in never-before-seen access, transparency and liquidity for investors thanks to the perfect combination of our groundbreaking technology and StraightUp’s core real estate-focused platform and values.”

The U.S. commercial real estate investable market space is currently comprised of $15 trillion and shows no signs of slowing.

About StraightUp
StraightUp is an innovative real estate equity platform that enables accredited investors to participate in the high-growth potential of New York real estate opportunities with a new level of simplicity, transparency and access the largest appreciation layer of the “capital stack.” The platform allows investors to be part of new real estate projects in prime locations, primarily within Manhattan. Unlike real estate platforms that don’t stand behind their decisions by participating alongside their investors, StraightUp always has skin in the game. StraightUp was incubated within HAP before being spun out as an independent company.

Slice
Slice is the first blockchain-powered platform for cross-border investors, making it easy and affordable to invest small amounts into real estate assets. The platform gives international investors access to wealth-building opportunity and real estate owners and operators access to a large pool of untapped capital. It allows private market returns and public market liquidity.

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SOURCE StraightUp