HomeLight, a US-based online realty platform backed by internet conglomerate Alphabet and financial services firm Citi, raised $100m in a series D round yesterday, along with $263m in debt financing.
The round was led by Zeev Ventures and featured Group 11, Menlo Ventures and STCAP. Lydia Jett, an investor with SoftBank Vision Fund, also invested, but it is unclear if this was as a private investor or on behalf of the telecoms group.
The investment values the company at $1.6bn and bring its total funding to $530m.
Founded in 2012, HomeLight links homebuyers and sellers to real estate agents through its platform, which uses machine learning to identify the most suitable matches. It also provides home loans and land title and escrow services.
HomeLight will use the $363m to expand its flagship financial products – HomeLight Cash Offer, which allows buyers to make all-cash home purchases, and HomeLight Trade-In, which lets sellers have more control over the timeline of their move – into new markets across the US.
Unlike other online real estate platforms, which tend to cut out the realtors, HomeLight looks to benefit from collaborating with them. Over the pandemic, the cash offer and trade in products have grown by over 700% and the company is projected to see threefold year-on-year growth.
The firm raked in $63m in series C equity in 2019, as well as $46m in debt. Zeev Ventures led the round with participation from Menlo Ventures, Group 11, Crosslink Capital, Stereo Capital and unnamed investors.
In 2017, Citi’s strategic investment arm Citi Ventures took part in HomeLight’s $40m series B round, which was led by Menlo Ventures joined by Zeev Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Innovation Endeavors and SGVC.
It had previously raised two series A tranches in February 2015 and April 2016 – worth $3m and $11m respectively – from Zeev Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Montage Ventures, Krillion Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, CrossLink Capital, Western Technology Investments, SGVC and 500 Startups.
GV, a corporate venturing unit of Alphabet, had participated in a $1.5m seed round in 2015 alongside Innovation Endeavors and Crosslink Capital.
Drew Uher, founder and chief executive of HomeLight, said: “After decades of stagnation in our industry, how we buy and sell homes is fundamentally changing.
“We have built the definitive platform that gives the best real estate agents and their clients the power of contingency-free transactions — whether that is enabling an all-cash offer, unlocking liquidity of an existing home to buy a new one or creating certainty through a modern closing process.
“We have proven that technology can help transform the transaction experience, and we could not be more excited to bring that technology to top agents, homebuyers and sellers everywhere.”
