US-based online real estate transaction platform Compass received $400m in series F capital yesterday from a consortium co-led by SoftBank Vision Fund, the investment fund managed by telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank.
The round was co-led by Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, and included Fidelity Investments, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Wellington Management. It valued Compass at $4.4bn post-money, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Founded in 2012 as Urban Compass, Compass operates an end-to-end luxury online real estate brokerage that operates across 21 markets in the US, including San Francisco’s Bay Area, Orange County, the Florida Gulf Coast and the Washington DC area.
The platform has attracted more than 7,000 real estate agents to date and is on track to process more than $34bn in sales volume this year, up from $14.8bn in 2017. The funding will go to technology development, international expansion and further growth across the US.
Compass has now raised close to $1.2bn in total. SoftBank Vision Fund ploughed $450m into the company in December 2017, weeks after IVP, Wellington and Fidelity had supplied $100m in series E funding.
Media group Advance Publications contributed to a $40m series B round for the company in 2014 alongside Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, .406 Ventures, Marc Benioff and Kenneth Chenault.
Justin Wilson, SoftBank Investment Adviser’s representative on the Compass board of directors, said: “Compass’s continued growth is being driven by their commitment to empowering agents with best-in-class technology that helps them expand their business and better serve consumers.
“We are excited to continue to support Compass as they further invest in their data and technology capabilities to create a next generation platform for home transactions and ownership.”
