# John Helm

> John Helm is a Series A investor at RET Ventures (San Francisco) backing Software and Real Estate. See 23 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [RET Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/real-estate-technology-ventures)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 23
- Last investment: Sep 2025
- Lead investor: 78%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-helm/1/20a/8

John Helm is a Series A investor at RET Ventures in San Francisco focused on Software and Real Estate. John Helm is based out of Park City, Utah, and is the managing director of RET Ventures. John previously worked at Opinion as a board member. John Helm attended the Harvard Business School.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 6 | 26% |
| Real Estate | 5 | 22% |
| Property Management | 5 | 22% |
| SaaS | 4 | 17% |
| Information Technology | 4 | 17% |

32 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 7 | 30% |
| Seed | 6 | 26% |
| Series B | 4 | 17% |
| Pre-Seed | 1 | 4% |
| Series C | 1 | 4% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 12 | 52% |
| Nigeria | 1 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 4% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PredictAP | PredictAP leverages the power of machine learning to automate the accounts payable and payment processing needs of large real estate investment funds and property managers at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. The company was founded in June 2020 by David Stifter and Russell Franks and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. | $5M | Venture - Series Unknown | Sep 23, 2025 |  |
| Crew | Crew provides reliable trash cans to the curb and on-demand trash services for short-term rentals. The goal is to simplify waste management for property owners while expanding into a full-service marketplace for home solutions, from cleaning to maintenance and beyond. | $3M | Seed | Jul 21, 2025 |  |
| Billee Technologies | Billee Technologies is a proptech startup that offers a comprehensive SaaS platform for property owners, aiming to transform utility bills through smart automation. | $9.2M | Seed | Jul 16, 2025 |  |
| Revyse | Revyse helps the multifamily real estate industry discover, buy, and manage the best software and services. Revyse Vendor Intelligence assists multifamily operators throughout the entire lifecycle–from initial vendor selection to contract renewal, helping property management companies visualize vendors, contracts, and spend throughout the residentlifecycle. | $1M | Seed | Oct 21, 2024 |  |
| PredictAP | PredictAP leverages the power of machine learning to automate the accounts payable and payment processing needs of large real estate investment funds and property managers at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. The company was founded in June 2020 by David Stifter and Russell Franks and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. | $8M | Series A | Jan 17, 2024 |  |
| Funnel | Funnel’s renter-centric solutions revolutionize the antiquated process of finding a home into an enjoyable experience. We believe all renters deserve a seamless, simple and personalized journey. We provide leasing and communication tools that are intuitive and obliterate repetitive tasks -- driving more efficient leasing.We didn’t get tired andstop after building industry changing tech — the best CRM, the most sophisticated virtual leasing agent (VLA), the e-commerce inspired mobile-first online leasing solution, the resident onboarding and renewal tools that cater to today’s renter and management teams — we also built an internal culture of true partnership with clients. | $32M | Series B | Oct 30, 2023 |  |
| Picket Homes | Picket Homes is a tech-driven real estate platform that delivers transformational change to the residential real estate market. Picket Homes was founded in 2020. | $20M | Series B | Jun 20, 2023 |  |
| Get Covered | Get Covered develops custom digital solutions for the insurance industry. Its automated, simplified platform ensures commercial or residential clients purchase and maintains their insurance. | $6M | Series A | Nov 08, 2022 |  |
| Travaye | We have an idea to create a digital product that requires a tribe of supporters and other amazing people like you.Travaye is a lifestyle and tourism brand that reveals the reality of living as a Nigerian youth, the black, the white; the good; the ugly; and tries to rebrand upper class lifestyle to become affordable and enjoyable. We do this byproviding affordable experience suggestions on our app and help to tell their stories through engaging and visually appealing content. The Travaye site helps you to budget a suggested experience and gives access to affordable locations around you. |  | Pre-Seed | Nov 01, 2022 |  |
| Travtus | Adam is the leading digital employee for your rental community, delivering automation and front-line intelligence through natural conversation. Adam never misses a call and understands the 1000’s of unique needs of customers. | $4M | Seed | Oct 31, 2022 |  |

10 of 23 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Trinity Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/trinity-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Bain Capital Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bain-capital-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [WISE Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/wise-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Camber Creek](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/camber-creek) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Camden Property Trust](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/camden-property-trust) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Morgan Properties](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/morgan-properties-2) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About RET Ventures

VC Fund · Park City, United States

Real Estate Technology Ventures (RET Ventures) is the first industry-backed seed-stage venture fund focused on building innovative real estate technology companies with a focus on the multifamily and single-family rental industries. The Firm connects the smartest rent tech solutions with its strategic LP base which includes the large network ofrental units in North America. RET Ventures works with high-quality entrepreneurs to scale their businesses by leveraging the knowledge and expertise of its team and limited partners, who own close to one million units. In turn, these owners receive early access and insight into effective technology solutions.

5 contacts available at RET Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| John Helm | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-helm |
| Aaron Ru | Vice President and Principal | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aaron-ru |
| Christopher Yip | Partner and Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/christopher-yip |
| Frances Fu | CFO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/frances-fu |
| Jacob Zornes | Chief Financial Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jacob-zornes-5dda |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does John Helm invest in?

John Helm invests primarily in Software, Real Estate and Property Management startups, most often at Series A and Seed stage. Most of the 23 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did John Helm last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for John Helm closed in Sep 2025. Shizune tracks 23 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co