Second Century Ventures (SCV), the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors, has made a strategic investment in Planwise. Planwise was a member of SCV’s inaugural REachTM technology accelerator class in 2013, which helps early stage technology companies execute into the real estate vertical. The undisclosed amount of capital provided will be leveraged to accelerate Planwise’s push into the real estate market with technology recently released specifically for the industry.
Planwise works with real estate brokers and portals to embed its technology within property listings to help consumers answer two main questions, “can I afford this?” and “will I make money?” The technology deployed within the listing feeds back into the main Planwise environment where prospective homeowners can model their entire financial situation and add any number of additional plans.
“Planwise is an essential part of the property transaction, delivering personalised financial insight to consumers while they are in the buying or selling process,” said Constance Freedman, Managing Director, Second Century Ventures. “Planwise helps real estate agents better engage prospects and close transactions by giving buyers the confidence to move forward and understand the short- and long-term ramifications of one of the biggest investments they will ever make.”
NAR is the largest trade association in the country with one million members. NAR provides strategic value to Second Century Ventures’ portfolio companies by allowing them access to its 300-strong organisation.
Planwise is simultaneously participating in the NAR REach and Yodlee accelerator programmes. Whilst the start-up’s focus is now on real estate and financial services its management believes that its technology has wider applications and is interested to speak with any prospective partners.