LONDON: Real estate technology company HomeLight has more than tripled its valuation to US$1.6bil (RM6.65bil), vaulting it to so-called unicorn status.
Zeev Ventures, an existing investor, led the US$100mil (RM415.80mil) equity funding round for the San Francisco-based startup, which included participation from Group 11, Stereo Capital, Menlo Ventures and SoftBank Investment Advisers partner Lydia Jett, HomeLight founder and chief executive officer Drew Uher said in an interview.
The company also secured US$263mil (RM1.09bil) in debt financing. HomeLight’s revenue is projected to surpass US$300mil (RM1.25bil) in the 2021 calendar year, tripling its 2020 performance, Uher said.
The company finances all-cash offers for prospective homebuyers, and buyers seeking to upgrade can get 90% of the value of their existing property from HomeLight before it’s sold – a service in demand from American families unable to obtain two mortgages.
“It is an eventuality that the bulk of real estate transactions will take place with these types of mechanics to eliminate uncertainty,” Uher said. The new financing “provides us with a tonne of fuel to execute on our vision.”
Uher credited the company’s network of roughly 28,000 brokers, who lean on HomeLight to help clients beat offers from suitors including so-called iBuyers, a reference to institutions like Zillow Group Inc and Opendoor Technologies Inc.
“It’s clear that agents need our products to compete and win in a tech-enabled world,” Uher said. “Our growth is limited primarily by how fast we can expand operations and headcount.”
Proceeds from the funding round will be used to bolster the company’s technology platform and expand into new US states, following its entry into regions including Texas, Florida and Colorado.
“The market here is so big, we are in the early innings in terms of innovation in real estate,” he said, referencing an estimated US$1.7 trillion (RM7.07 trillion) in annual transactions involving residential properties per year. The company’s agent network currently facilitates almost a quarter of that figure, at US$360mil (RM1.5bil), according to HomeLight’s analysis. ― Bloomberg