Team

The Nine Four Team is committed to being active, long term investors and supported by in-market partners across the industries we invest in.
Investment Team

Jeffrey
Elowe

Founder & General Partner
📍 Chicago

Kurt
Ramirez

General Partner
📍 Chicago

Paul
La Londe

Partner
📍 San Francisco

Sophia
Ghadamian

Principal
📍 New York City

David
Ferrero

EVP of Capital Markets
📍 Boston

Stacy
Valentine

VP of Innovation & Technology
📍 Denver

Intern Alumni

Brit Elowe

Undergraduate Analyst

Indiana University

Caroline Giroux

MBA Associate

Columbia Business School

Sam Mulholland

MBA Associate

Wharton School of Business

Nishita Lakhani

MBA Associate

University of Chicago Booth

Nicolle Lee

MBA Associate

Wharton School of Business

Manuela Manrique

MBA Associate

Columbia Business School

Andrew Schwalm

MBA Associate

Cornell university

Valarie Sherr

Undergraduate Analyst

University of Michigan

Nine Four Ventures is an early-stage PropTech investor. We invest in technologies that impact the people, processes, and ecosystems that interact with the built world.

NINE FOUR VC
30 S Wacker Drive Suite 2750
Chicago IL 60606

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Jeffrey Elowe

Founder & General Partner

Laramar Group

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Mr. Elowe founded The Laramar Group in 2001 after co-founding Elkor Realty Corp. and Elkor Properties in 1989. As President and CEO of The Laramar Group, Mr. Elowe oversees an institutional real estate portfolio valued in excess of $2 Billion; is a principal in the Laramar Multi-Family Value Fund (a discretionary commingled real estate investment vehicle specializing in multi-family investments throughout the U.S.); a principal in the L-A/Laramar Urban Neighborhood Fund (a specialty Fund which invests in urban neighborhood MF and mixed-use properties in 8 major U.S. markets);  a partner in the Lakeside Workforce Housing Fund (an affordable housing fund which invests in affordable MF housing throughout the U.S.); a partner in the Laramar/LMI joint venture (a JV with a major insurance company which invests in larger MF and mixed-use assets throughout the U.S.);a partner in Nine Four Ventures (a Real-Estate Technology Fund); and is a partner in Covington Realty Partners (a developer of MF and mixed-use properties in the Midwest and East Coast of the U.S.)

Laramar is a nationally recognized investment and property manager that has been ranked in the top 50 largest firms in the U.S. by the National Multi-Housing Council. Mr. Elowe is chairman of the investment committee and is responsible for the company’s overall strategic planning, investments, asset management and investor relations. Mr. Elowe has built a successful 30-year real estate investment track record having sponsored and participated in transactions totaling in excess of $5 Billion.

Mr. Elowe is the recipient of the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Mountain Desert region).  In addition, Mr. Elowe is on the board of directors of the National Multi-Housing Council (NMHC), is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is the former chairman of the board for the North Lawndale College Prep Charter Schools and a former board member of Chicago Jewish High School. Mr. Elowe has a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and an M.D. degree from Northwestern University.

Kurt Ramirez

General Partner

Chicago

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Kurt Ramirez is a Founding Partner at Nine Four Ventures. Based in Chicago, his responsibilities include leading originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities and supporting existing portfolio companies.
 
Kurt has been active in the PropTech space since 2015, and previously worked with a Chicago-based real estate tech accelerator and fund, where he was a member of the investment team and ran firm diligence and operations. He’s worked with countless PropTech companies and has experience investing across startups targeting all facets of residential and commercial asset classes.
 
Prior to founding Nine Four, Kurt was a consultant at Bain & Company, an investor at Cue Ball Capital, a venture capital firm focused on consumer and information media investments, and Greenfield Partners, a real estate private equity firm.
 
He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and BS/BA degrees from Vanderbilt University.

Paul La Londe

Partner

San Francisco

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Paul is a Partner at Nine Four Ventures. Based in San Francisco, his responsibilities include originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities and supporting existing portfolio companies, particularly AgentSync, Built Technologies, Bungalow, Finley, Inspectify, Kojo, OpenSpace, Steadily, and Vontive. Paul joined Nine Four Ventures out of business school and during that time he worked at Transmedia Capital, an SF-based seed fund, where he worked closely with RangeMe (acquired by ECRM), Spacious (acquired by WeWork) and TalkIQ (acquired by DialPad) among others. Prior to business school, he worked for Goldman Sachs and SV Angel, where he worked closely with Carta, Fictiv, Instawork and Theorem.

Paul received an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Finance from Santa Clara University. He comes from a family of real estate entrepreneurs and is excited to combine his passion for real estate with his enthusiasm for tech and venture.

Sophia Ghadamian

Principal

New York

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Sophia is a Principal at Nine Four Ventures. Based in New York, her responsibilities include originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities, as well as supporting existing portfolio companies, particularly Assured, Bowery Valuation, Branch Furniture, Handdii, Inspectify, OpenSpace, Pronto Housing, and Steadily. In addition, Sophia’s responsibilities include partner management, marketing, and helping manage Nine Four’s pilot program.

Prior to Nine Four, Sophia worked as an MBA Associate at Metaprop, an early stage PropTech fund, advisory, and startup acceleration firm. Sophia also worked as a Project Manager at The Marketing Directors Inc. (TMD), a real estate development consulting firm. At TMD, Sophia developed and implemented the strategy for more than 40 properties in the NY/NJ area. Her clients included developers such as Midwood Investment and Development, Ceruzzi Properties, Trinity Place Holdings, The Fisher Organization, and KRE Group, among others.

Sophia received an MBA from Columbia University’s Business School and a BBA from The Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan. She comes from a family of real estate professionals and is excited to bridge the gap between her passions for real estate and entrepreneurship through venture.

David Ferrero

EVP of Capital Markets

Boston

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David Ferrero, Executive Vice President of Capital Markets, works with senior management to direct Laramar’s strategic fund raising, joint venture activity and investor relations, as well as expand its investment portfolio in the Northeastern market and across the U.S. He is a seasoned senior real estate investment executive with a proven track record of generating superior risk-adjusted returns and diversification through focused investments, industry thought leadership, and strategies within real estate investment, property technology and operating platforms. His extensive property technology background allows him to engage with leadership at Nine Four Ventures, focusing on linking innovative technologies with real estate operators.

Mr. Ferrero brings nearly 30 years of real estate investment management expertise and has proven experience driving platform performance, adding considerable value creating and implementing growth-focused investment and operating strategies within all types of organizations, from mature investment funds to entrepreneurial ventures. He joins Laramar Group from Mosaic Building Group, where he was a Senior Advisor and Head of Real Estate and Business Development. In that role, he was part of an executive leadership team overseeing business development initiatives, and investment strategies for an early-stage construction technology platform. He successfully aided a $10 million Series A capital raise and helped facilitate the growth of the platform.

Stacy Valentine

VP of Innovation & Technology

Laramar Group

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In her current role as Vice President of Innovation and Technology, Ms. Valentine works as a liaison to streamline linking innovative technologies with real estate operators. She is instrumental in identifying areas of opportunity within the real estate space and implementing pilot programs where technology can be deployed and tested to better understand how the product/platform benefits multifamily operators, integrates with existing infrastructure, and ultimately adds value to the real estate industry. By leveraging 30+ years of experience and a network of industry influencers, she expedites connecting emerging technology as a precursor to a broader rollout or investment. Prior to moving into her current role, she was responsible for directing operations for all of Laramar’s Urban Neighborhood portfolios, as well as all of the national marketing and branding efforts for Local by Laramar and Laramar Group.

Before joining Laramar Group, Ms. Valentine spent 4 years at Forum Real Estate Group as VP of Operations. At Forum, Ms. Valentine was responsible for oversight of a diverse portfolio including stabilized, repositioned, and new development assets located throughout Colorado, Minnesota, Arkansas, Alabama, and Florida.

Prior to Forum Real Estate Group, Ms. Valentine worked at Equity Residential for 16 years. She joined EQR in 1997 as a Property Manager and enjoyed a successful career where she was promoted to a Sr. Regional Manager overseeing 3900 units in the Denver portfolio.

Ms. Valentine is passionate about leadership training and team building and uses those leadership principles to achieve excellence and optimize performance at all levels.