Opendoor, the US-based operator of an online real estate marketplace, received $400m in funding today from telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund.
The investment valued the company at more than $2bn, a source familiar with the deal told TechCrunch, adding that the valuation was largely flat from the $325m Opendoor raised in June this year. It was secured alongside $2bn in debt financing from undisclosed banks.
Founded in 2014, Opendoor runs an online platform where users can search for, buy and sell properties relatively quickly and smoothly using their smartphones. It is present in 19 US cities but intends to expand that to 50 by the end of 2020.
The funding will support the creation of a platform allowing users to buy and sell properties with a single click, in addition to adding services such as title and mortgage as well as tools that facilitate the hiring of service providers such as contractors, landscapers or home cleaners.
OpenDoor has now raised $1.045bn in equity funding in total, it said. Property developer Lennar, conglomerate Access Industries’ Access Technology Ventures unit and venture capital firm General Atlantic co-led the June round.
Real estate manager Invitation Homes, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Lakestar, GGV Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, 10100 Fund, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Khosla Ventures also took part in the series E.
Access Industries led an $80m series C round for OpenDoor in 2015 before returning for a $210m series D in late 2016 that included GV, a subsidiary of internet technology group Alphabet, NEA, Khosla, Fifth Wall Ventures, NEA, Lakestar and GGV Capital.
Eric Wu, Opendoor’s founder and chief executive, said: “SoftBank understands that the traditional process of buying and selling a home is complicated, uncertain and stressful for millions of people, and that Opendoor radically improves the experience.
“We are excited to widen our ambitions as we launch new products, expand our services, and build an end-to-end experience for millions of people moving each year.”
News of the round came as Japan-based SoftBank’s chief executive Masayoshi Son told Bloomberg it plans to launch several successors to its Vision Fund, each capitalised with $100bn.
Vision Fund had raised $97.7bn in capital from SoftBank, additional corporate backers and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds as of November 2017. The firm would look to raise $100bn for a fund every two or three years and invest about $50bn per year, according to Son.
Bloomberg also produced a definitive list of Vision Fund’s nine senior partners: Rajeev Misra, Saleh Romeih, Praveen Akkiraju, Colin Fan, Jeffrey Housenbold, Kentaro Matsui, Greg Moon, Deep Nishar and Michael Ronen.
Housenbold, a managing partner at Vision Fund manager SoftBank Investment Advisers, said today: “Real estate is the biggest asset class in the US and the biggest transaction in people’s lives, but its digital transformation is only beginning.
“We believe that Eric and his team are redefining home buying and selling by rethinking the status quo and providing a faster and more seamless experience for the customer.”
