HomeLight, a company that uses data and technology to connect home sellers with real estate agents, announced this week that it raised $40 million to substantially grow its business.
Leading the company’s Series B funding round was Silicon Valley-based Menlo Ventures, along with existing investors Zeev Ventures, SGVC, Crosslink Capital, and Innovation Endeavors.
Additionally, Citi Ventures, the venture capital arm of Citigroup, came on board as a new investor.
In total, HomeLight has now raised $55 million in funding since the company’s inception in 2012. The company’s last round of funding was in early 2016.
According to details provided by HomeLight, the company has seen its revenue grow by nearly 500% since its last capital raise.
Here’s how HomeLight works.
In a release, the company claims that only 8% of home sellers currently find their real estate agent online. HomeLight aims to change that.
“HomeLight is dedicated to serving the home seller, helping them find the real estate agent best positioned to sell their home based on actual performance data,” the company state.
HomeLight states that its proprietary algorithms analyze two million real estate agents and nearly 30 million aggregated residential real estate transactions to help home sellers find the agent in their area who is best suited for their needs.
The company claims that as a result of its service, sellers who use its service sell their homes 29 days faster than average. Additionally, the company says that homes sold through HomeLight sell for 3.5% more than the industry average.
The company said it is also currently adding more than 1,000 real estate agents to its platform each month.
So, how does HomeLight make money? According to this article from TechCrunch, HomeLight collects a referral fee from real estate agents when they close a sale that came through HomeLight’s platform.
And with $40 million more in the company’s coffers, HomeLight says that it wants to grow its platform.
The company said by the first quarter of 2018, it plans to double its head count, with new hires in sales, marketing, operations, and engineering in both its San Francisco headquarters and Phoenix office.
“The home is one of the most prized possessions in people’s lives. We are passionate about helping homeowners achieve the best possible outcome when selling their home,” Drew Uher, founder and CEO of HomeLight, said.
“No other company on earth can help consumers sell their home faster and for more money by leveraging analytics and big data,” Uher continued. “Our impressive growth validates our belief that this is a core need that affects all homeowners and we believe that HomeLight is poised to deliver a fundamentally better experience for the seller.”
HomeLight will also continue to “invest heavily in refining its data-driven platform and enhancing the seller experience,” the company said.
As part of the funding round, Tyler Sosin of Menlo Ventures will join HomeLight's board of directors, while Venky Ganesan of Menlo Ventures and Dovi Frances of SGVC will join HomeLight’s board as observers.
“It’s clear that HomeLight is providing a much needed service, and one that is highly differentiated from those offered by the known real estate tech brands,” Sosin said in a release.
“Further, Menlo was impressed with HomeLight’s substantial growth and its ability to execute on a ‘win-win’ value proposition for agents and sellers; the praise we heard from the market was extremely compelling,” Sosin added. “I look forward to working closely with the talented HomeLight team as it builds upon its strong momentum to become a household name.”
