J
LL has acquired Raise Commercial Real Estate, a San Francisco-based brokerage that specializes in artificial intelligence companies. The deal, which was announced this week, will see JLL integrate Raise's clients and software into its 110,000-person firm. Justin Bedecarre, the founder of Raise, will report to Andy Poppink, head of JLL's Markets Advisory office.

    Raise has been a go-to brokerage for AI companies looking to lease new offices in San Francisco, with clients including OpenAI and Anthropic. The company was founded by Bedecarre nine years ago as HelloOffice, and he aimed to develop technologies for the commercial real estate industry from an early age. Raise's proprietary technology allows companies to manage their real estate holdings in one place, using features such as measuring in-person office usage.

    The acquisition is expected to close in coming weeks, with Bedecarre describing it as a "means to an end" that will allow him to scale his business for clients who are going global. JLL's purchase of Raise marks a significant expansion into the AI-focused commercial real estate market, and could give the company a competitive edge in attracting top tech clients.