Manoj Menda is the driving force and co-chairperson behind RMZ Corp., one of Asia’s largest privately-owned real estate organisations. RMZ is committed to building responsible assets and communities on every front--social, economic, and environmental. Under Menda's leadership RMZ has become one of the very few large zero-debt real estate companies globally.
RMZ’s massive transformative purpose is to disrupt the way people view work.
The firm’s deeply unifying purpose is to leverage its integrated digital platform
to build smart, engaged, and quantified communities. With a hyper-growth
strategy and the use of exponential technologies RMZ plans to build a
1-million-member quantified community across 800+ enterprise customers
across 87 million+ square feet of real estate assets by 2026.
As the Chair of RMZ’s Executive Board and Investment Committees, Menda is instrumental in the firm’s co-investment partnerships that help RMZ scale its business. The firm serves a select group of global institutional investors such as CPPIB and Mitsui Fudosan that share its vision and value a partner with committed capital and substantial skin in the game.
RMZ relentlessly pursues innovation. By reimagining traditional real estate practices and adapting to the digital way of life the firm drives a sustained transformation programme that will deliver projects better and faster, and with a superior member experience.
Menda is an alumnus of Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. In 2015 he and his wife Anu Menda established the RMZ Foundation with a mission to promote the well-being of the communities RMZ operates with and within. The foundation works at the intersection of three focus areas: Urban Innovation, Resilient Communities and Accentuate Art. The Wall Street Journal includes Manoj Menda among the 'World's 100 Most Influential Business Leaders.'
In 2002, Menda along with his brother Raj created a B2B model of building real estate solutions for enterprises and they were pioneers in introducing a new commercial real estate model for India. With the booming of offshoring and outsourcing to India, Manoj and Raj Menda focused their efforts on working with only large Fortune 500 companies to not only build a product but also provide end-to-end solutions.
RMZ grew geographically to address the needs of its enterprise clients. Manoj Menda paved the growth from large to small markets in India, moving from Bangalore and Hyderabad to Mumbai and Delhi, Pune and Chennai. He created new micro-markets, pioneering the development of the Outer Ring Road in Bangalore. The development of RMZ Ecospace spearheaded this. Now RMZ's largest asset, RMZ Ecoworld has been accredited as the Best Real Estate in the Asia Pacific by the Urban Land Institute in 2020.
Menda attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) into RMZ with Institutional Investors and created profitable exits for them. In 2013, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) invested US$300 million in RMZ. In 2018, they exited at US$1.2 billion, creating rich value and returns over their investment tenure.
RMZ has clearly demonstrated scale. The firm’s assets range from 1.5 million square feet to 14 million square feet. In 2017, Menda invested heavily in leading the Hyderabad office market by investing over US$1 billion to develop and acquire real assets. The firm's portfolio in Hyderabad is worth US$4 billion, spread across 20 million square feet.
RMZ seeks to define the Future of Space, while Menda aims to disrupt the way people view work. He founded the concept of co-working in India. Menda brought social amenities to the workspace, creating social and member experiences. His model of B2B has slowly evolved to B2C and B2B2C, developing assets that are inclusive, tech-forward and sustainable, and serve as economic and creative engines for their communities.
Menda is an advocate for long-term strategic partnerships. In 2019, RMZ Corp. forged a partnership with Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., a leading global real estate developer, for US$1 billion to jointly develop assets in India. The first development undertaken by the partnership was the 3.5M square feet development, RMZ Ecoworld 30, in Bangalore.
Manoj Menda's philosophy is to own the complete development lifecycle of a real estate asset. From single properties to city-defining mixed-use developments, he reimagines places with a focus on people. RMZ has demonstrated operational expertise on how to build, operate, own, mature and exit. In 2020, his firm divested 12.5 million square feet out of 67 million square feet in their real asset portfolio to Brookfield Asset Management for US$2 billion. This deal was the largest ever in the Indian real estate industry. The firm channelized FDI to clear all debt and to fuel its hyper-growth strategy of building a 1-million-member quantified community across 87 million+ square feet and US$15 billion of real estate assets by 2026.
Menda’s model for the company is focussed on collaboration and growing together. When RMZ identifies a company whose vision aligns with its strategy, it commits capital and expertise to accelerate growth. RMZ is an active owner and asset manager when it comes to their investments and collaborates closely with their management teams.
RMZ’s ‘Digital-First’ strategy is oriented towards delivering a differentiated end-to-end experience for its enterprise clients and members. Menda has pioneered a comprehensive data strategy to allow rapid decisions and data monetisation, creating a virtuous cycle of growth, redefining the operating model to translate his bold vision into effective and efficient on-ground execution.
An impact investor, Menda invests in sustainable solutions that present scalable ideas for technology and urbanisation. With Leadership in energy and environmental design, LEED, and WELL certifications in place, RMZ Corp remains at the forefront of sustainable building design, construction and operation. Through Menda’s initiative, RMZ has engaged with some of the best minds in the world to focus on health and well-being across its assets. These engagements explore innovations in technology, building engineering and design, and bringing in unique experiences that enhance the health and well-being of members. The initiatives not only address physiological comfort, by establishing enhanced benchmarks for ventilation, daylight and noise for RMZ’s spaces, but also their psychological comfort by engaging members through active, smart and biophilic design.
Under Menda’s leadership, RMZ has racked up prestigious accolades, from being the only development project from India to win the 2020 ULI Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence, to being the first company, globally to achieve WELL Health—Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management. As of today, RMZ Corp holds the largest Indian portfolio of assets certified under LEED Arc, a building performance monitoring and scoring platform, which uses energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience as measurement parameters. RMZ today ranks among the world’s top real estate companies. Menda has engineered tie-ups with global leaders such as Bain and McKinsey & Co, to guide RMZ and help forge the path ahead. This includes a comprehensive analysis and subsequent reorganisation of the company, with an accent on process redesign, workflow optimisation and an efficient governance mechanism.
The sustainability mission of the RMZ Foundation aligns with the UN SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals, that aim to provide good health and well-being, quality education, and sustainable and affordable housing to those from marginalized communities. Water conservation, clean energy, innovation, health and well-being, regenerative architecture, responsible sourcing and resourcing, sustainable communities and waste reduction, form the pillars of all sustainability initiatives undertaken by the foundation. These include social housing, partnerships with educational institutions, outreach initiatives, and healthcare for women. Menda also actively pursues sustainability objectives across the RMZ Corp real asset portfolio, giving shape to his commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, with an aim to developing the country's largest carbon-neutral real asset portfolio. He views the future of real estate within the framework of sustainability, wellness, accessibility and flexibility, enabled by digitization, social value, thoughtful construction and talent. One of his pet projects, RMZ’s holistic recycling program in Bangalore, was featured as a case study by the World Economic Forum report on the future of real estate.
Manoj is married to Anu Menda. Their son Mihir Menda currently studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) & is also an alumnus of Columbia University where he recently graduated from. Their daughter Adhya Menda is studying at Yale University
Menda is also a champion badminton player.
Manoj Menda was born in Bangalore to Arjun and Asha Menda. He completed his early schooling from St. Josephs European High School, Bangalore and then went on to study civil engineering in BMS College of Engineering where he graduated achieving a gold medal for academic excellence. In 1992, he completed his MBA in Finance from Rochester Institute of Technology.
