FlyHomes, a full-service real estate brokerage and technology company, has closed a $17m Series A financing round.
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Mark Vadon and Shasta Ventures, among others, according to an announcement on the company’s blog. It intends to use the funds to increase deployment of its Cash Offers program, accelerate hiring, invest in further product development, and drive new market expansion in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.
The Cash Offers program enables the brokerage to purchase houses directly with cash and then hold onto them until the startup’s buyer clients secure financing.
Launched in 2015, by Stephen Lane and Tushar Garg, FlyHomes is a full-service non-traditional real estate brokerage and technology company focused on ‘reimagining the home buying experience one buyer at a time’.
To date, it has helped more than 400 people close on more than $300m worth of homes with a truly seamless process.
FlyHomes turns pre-qualified clients into cash buyers by purchasing homes, and using cash from its debt facilities, on their behalf. If the seller accepts the offer, the service closes in less than a week and allows the seller to move out when it’s convenient (up to 60 days).
The startup then transfers ownership to the client once financing has closed – typically around 30 days later. The client pays for FlyHomes’ cost of owning the home and the company earns a standard buyer’s agent commission from the home seller.
Lane said in the blog post, “This investment round is a huge milestone for our company as it provides us capital to accelerate our growth in product, teams, and markets. But moreover, it brings on a partner that believes in this vision and in our ability to make it a reality.
“We’re on a mission to transform the home buying experience and improve the lives of consumers by delivering a better level of service at a fraction of the cost.”
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