HomeLight, a startup that wants to be the Amazon of real estate, just nabbed fresh funding. It counts Google as an early backer, and Menlo Ventures as one of its latest investors.
- HomeLight has raised $63 million in Series C equity and $46 million in debt and additional funds. The round was led by Zeev Ventures, which had previously invested in the real estate tech startup.
- Menlo Ventures, the legendary tech investor that made early investments in mobile apps, also took part. The firm recently has also invested in startups focused on tech for the construction and insurance industries.
- HomeLight bought digital mortgage company Eave this summer, and has also developed its own title and escrow services.
- The San Francisco-based company launched Simple Sale this year, which connects home-seller to iBuyers or local cash and investment buyers.
HomeLight, a startup that matches people up with agents and iBuyers, just nabbed $63 million in Series C equity and $46 million in debt and additional funds.
San Francisco-based HomeLight has been branching out into mortgage lending and other products, reflecting a larger trend of real-estate tech companies looking to broaden their businesses. For one, Zillow - which has long provided free real-estate data - has launched its own so-called iBuyer, a service that offers cash to people looking to sell a house quickly and then aims to turn around and sell the home for a profit.
The funding round was led by Zeev Ventures, returning investors for HomeLight and early investors in Audible. HomeLight declined to provide a valuation.
Menlo Ventures, the legendary venture fund that funded early investment into mobile apps, joined the round as well. It has recently started focusing on specialized software for industries like insurance and construction. Group 11, Crosslink Capital, Stereo Capital, and others also participated.
HomeLight was founded in 2012 with a $1.5 million seed round that included funding from Google Ventures. Before this round, the company had raised a total of $55.5 million.
Drew Uher, chief executive and founder of HomeLight, says that his company is trying to become "Amazon for real estate."
"We want HomeLight to be a meta-layer on top of it all," Uher said, referencing the disparate sources of real estate information. Uher hopes that by aggregating information as well as selling real-estate products and services, HomeLight will become central to the transactions.
HomeLight is looking for other sources of revenue on top of the referral fees it charges to real estate agents. The company bought home-lending startup Eave this summer, and has also been rolling out an iBuyer comparison tool as well as title and escrow services.
The company this year also launched Simple Sale, which connects potential home-sellers who are looking for a quick transaction with iBuyers or local cash and investment buyers. It allows for comparison shopping between these kinds of offers and also provides insight into what a traditional real estate agent might be able to fetch for a home. iBuyers typically charge fees that are higher than those of traditional real estate agents.