SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flyhomes, the Seattle-based startup reinventing the home buying process, is announcing $141 million in new financing, $21 million of which is Series B equity financing led by Canvas Ventures with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). $120 million in debt financing comes from multiple lenders, including Genesis Capital, who originates loans on behalf of Goldman Sachs Bank USA. The funding will be used to fuel the growth of products designed to make the home buying process as painless as possible. Flyhomes is also announcing the launch of its latest product, the Trade Up program.
Flyhomes will leverage the new capital in several ways, including:
- scaling its Trade Up program to remove friction and hassle for homeowners trying to buy a new home
- empowering homebuyers across the U.S. to make a cash offer on their dream home
- expanding operations to new cities on both coasts, adding new services and integrated technology solutions
- hiring, with plans to more than double its headcount in 2019
Trade Up Program Designed for Homebuyers Who Also Need to Sell a Home
The Trade Up program, now available to homebuyers in Seattle and San Francisco, frees current homeowners to shop for their next home without worries about contingencies or timing. Flyhomes provides a guaranteed, competitive price for the home a buyer currently owns, thereby eliminating the risk and uncertainty of having two mortgages. Unlike the iBuyer model, Flyhomes lists homes to get the maximum value for the customer, while providing a 100% guarantee that the home will sell within 90 days, or they will buy it. If Flyhomes sells it for more than that price, they’ll hand over the proceeds from the sale. Now buyers who work with Flyhomes can make an all-cash offer on their new home—using Flyhomes’ cash—and move in before listing their current home.
“For most people, a home is the single biggest purchase they’ll ever make, and the traditional process of making that purchase is fraught with obstacles, stress, and worry. We believe our approach—which supports homebuyers with a vertically integrated product offering—is the future of real estate,” said Tushar Garg, Flyhomes CEO and Co-Founder, and alumnus of Kellogg School of Management. “Because we do everything from touring homes to funding their purchase, we have greatly simplified the process for buyers. We are thrilled to partner with Canvas Ventures and a16z on this investment, which represents a significant vote of confidence in our mission and ambitious goals for the future.”
Company Growth Proves Demand for Model
Flyhomes is leading a new generation of real estate companies for the next generation of homebuyers. Since launching in 2015, Flyhomes has experienced rapid growth while achieving significant milestones:
- helped over 1,000 clients close on over $1 billion in homes bought and sold
- won homes for clients 68% more than traditional brokerage firms
- more than doubled Bay Area sales between the last half of 2018 and the first half of 2019
- closed over 300 competitive mortgages in less than a year since launching Flyhomes Mortgage in June 2018
- provided unprecedented service, achieving a “world-class” NPS score of 82 and 5-star Yelp reviews across all markets
“We have strong conviction in Flyhomes’ ability to reinvent real estate, a process that has seen little innovation in our lifetimes,” said Mike Ghaffary, Partner at Canvas Ventures. “Flyhomes offers a full-service real estate resource unlike anything currently available, and allows consumers to be more competitive in the home buying market. Their all-cash offer not only helps people buy a home, but it also helps them win over 68% more than traditional brokerage firms. The new Trade Up program from Flyhomes also now provides a minimum guaranteed price on an old home to give consumers the confidence to buy a new home they can afford.”
About Flyhomes
Flyhomes is superpowering the way people buy homes. Founded in 2015 by Stephen Lane and Tushar Garg, Flyhomes has reinvented the home purchase process for buyers at every step by clearing obstacles to homeownership. To date, we have helped more than 1,000 people close on more than $1 billion worth of homes using products like Cash Offers, Trade Up, and Guaranteed Offers to give buyers a clear edge in any market. To offer clients a truly seamless experience, the Flyhomes family of companies includes FlyHomes, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiaries: FlyHomes Brokerage, LLC, FlyHomes Mortgage, LLC, FlyHomes Closing, LLC, and Madre Homes, LLC (d/b/a FlyHomes Crew). For more information, visit flyhomes.com.
About Canvas Ventures
Canvas Ventures is a venture capital firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area with nearly $500 million under management that focuses on Series A and Series B investments, in particular, those with marketplace business models. The Canvas Ventures current portfolio and key investment areas include Fintech (Future Adviser, Possible Finance, Gabi), Logistics (Transfix, Flowspace, MasonHub), Commerce (Zola, eporta), Enterprise (Figure Eight, Platform9, Kinetica, Functionize, Luminar), Real Estate Tech (Flyhomes, Roofstock), and Health Tech (Vida).
The partners are also known for investments made prior to Canvas, which include: Lending Club, MuleSoft, Houzz, Evernote, NexTag, Check, Doximity, Upwork, Strava, Optimizely, HubHaus, and more. Rebecca Lynn, Gary Little, Paul Hsiao, and Mike Ghaffary serve as the firm’s investing partners. Visit us at www.canvas.vc.
