The three European markets in which Alea operates — Portugal, Spain and Poland — share the same structural gap: roughly 4 million students and far too few purpose-built beds to house them. Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) provision stands at only 5% in Portugal, 7.4% in Spain and 10% in Poland, and by 2030 the three markets are expected to face a combined shortage of more than 600,000 beds.
Against this backdrop, Alea is launching its new Living-One Fund, targeting €200 million in investor commitments.
The launch is backed by a strategic investment of around €50 million from Reality Partners, together with Poalim Equity, providing Alea with anchor capital to support the expansion of its European student housing and flex living platform.
A fully integrated developer-operator platform
At the core of Alea’s strategy is a fully integrated investment, development and operating model. Rather than investing in assets and outsourcing their development and operation, Alea brings the entire value chain together within one platform — from sourcing investment opportunities and planning through to development, leasing and day-to-day operations. This hands-on approach gives Alea greater control over execution throughout the investment lifecycle, allowing the company to manage risk more closely and create value at each stage.
This integrated approach also extends to the resident experience. Alea develops and operates living concepts designed around the needs of specific resident communities under its ‘Andy’ and ‘Mad’ brands. By placing residents at the centre of its operating model, Alea creates living environments that respond to how people want to live, study and work, while supporting engagement, loyalty and the long-term performance of its assets.
Building on a proven track record
Founded in 2018 in Lisbon by Roey Shoef, Pedro Antunes and Rui Escaleira, Alea has developed its business around this vertically integrated developer-operator model. In Portugal, Alea’s founders have acquired several development sites, successfully delivered purpose-built student accommodation projects and exited them to leading European institutional investors.
Alea and its management team have completed the full investment lifecycle — site acquisition through development, operations, and institutional disposal — across 7 assets in Portugal.
Today, Alea is developing approximately 2,500 purpose-built student accommodation units across Lisbon and Porto, while also expanding into Spain and Poland through its first acquisitions. These units are expected to be included in the Living-One Fund, which is targeted to reach approximately 10,000 units across its markets.
The launch of the new fund will provide additional capacity to scale this model across markets where student housing supply remains significantly below demand, while maintaining Alea’s integrated approach to investment, development and operations.
Roey Shoef, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Alea, said:
“Alea’s platform is built on a clear thesis: structural demand–supply imbalances in urban residential markets create durable, defensive opportunities with strong, inflation-linked yields. The strategy is delivered through a co-GP, multi-geography operational platform. This partnership with Reality Partners and Poalim Equity gives us anchor capital and partners who understand that thesis. Portugal, Spain and Poland need hundreds of thousands of student beds this decade, and this partnership lets us build them at scale.”
Edo Blecher, CEO of Reality Partners, commented:
“We established Reality Partners to identify exceptional investment managers with deep expertise in sectors offering significant long-term growth potential and to become their strategic partner as they scale. We are delighted to welcome Poalim Equity to this transaction and are confident that their experience, capabilities and strategic value will further strengthen this partnership and support Alea’s continued growth. Over the past few years, Alea’s founders have built a unique platform with an outstanding team and a proven track record. Operating through a fully integrated developer-operator model, the company combines exceptional execution capabilities with a product offering that delivers both significant value creation potential and attractive downside protection.”
Liat Hazout, CEO of Poalim Equity, commented:
“We are pleased to partner with Reality Partners, and Alea in this strategic investment. Alea has built a differentiated platform in one of Europe’s most attractive living sectors, supported by strong market fundamentals, a vertically integrated operating model and an experienced management team. We look forward to supporting the company’s next phase of growth.”
About Reality Partners
Reality Partners, part of Reality Group — Israel’s largest real estate investment fund group — was established in partnership with a group of strategic partners from Israel and the United States. Its shareholders include Discount Capital, the investment arm of Discount Bank.
The company focuses on identifying high-quality real estate investment managers (GPs) operating across international markets in equity and/or credit strategies, acquiring minority stakes in their management companies, and partnering with them strategically to support their growth and development into institutional-scale and/or publicly traded platforms.
About Poalim Equity
Poalim Equity is the real investment arm of Bank Hapoalim. Led by Liat Hazut, the company makes direct equity and debt investments in private companies.
Poalim Equity manages a diversified investment portfolio comprising private companies and growth-stage ventures across real estate, infrastructure, energy, retail, financial services, and other sectors, alongside investments in private equity funds specializing in a broad range of sectors in Israel and internationally.
In addition, Poalim Equity provides investment banking services, including advisory services for private capital raising and support in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions.