realtymogulRealty Mogul, a recent graduate of MIcrosoft’s Windows Azure Accelerator, has raised $500,00 in seed funding from Gust CEO David S. Rose, Zillow board member Gordon Stephenson and serial entrepreneur and Sky Kruse.

The company also announced that LA-based real estate investment company AH Capital recently used Realty Mogul — a crowdfunding platform that allows investments to be made in properties for as little as $5,000 — to purchase a $110,000 duplex in LA.

The company is starting service today in California and Washington state, with investors able to join the online marketplace to pool money and buy shares of pre-vetted office buildings, apartment buildings and retail centers. It is also designed so that developers can tap new sources of funding for projects, finding accredited investors for office buildings and the like.

“We’re introducing our investors to new real estate investments and allowing them to invest in their own backyard alongside some of the best private real estate investment companies, like AH Capital,” said CEO Jilliene Helman in a release. The company is based in LA, and Pando Daily notes that crowdfunding is a new twist for the commercial real estate business. Meanwhile, TechCrunch points out that others in the market include Fundrise and Prodigy Network.

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