Realm, the first free-to-use and centralized source of actionable, unbiased insights for American homeowners, has raised $12M in Series A funding led by GGV Capital, with participation from existing investors Primary Venture Partners, Lerer Hippeau and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. This round comes just four months after the company’s market launch and brings the total raised to $15 million.
Founded by real estate tech entrepreneur Liz Young, Realm was launched earlier this year to provide a one-stop-shop for accessible, actionable home advice, born from a pandemic-related growth in interest in home ownership, or in selling to maximize profits. Realm offers data-backed insights ranging from when to tackle a bathroom renovation to when to refinance.
“Primary homes account for 62% of the average American homeowners’ total assets, and the spending doesn’t stop once they move in,” said Realm founder and CEO Liz Young. “Our homes are our most expensive asset, and there’s no other place people spend so much money, with so little accurate information to base their decisions on. With this new capital, and support from great partners like GGV, Realm will continue to build the largest, free database of actionable home advice to help homeowners make important home decisions with confidence, while increasing the value of their biggest asset.”
The funding will improve the quality and sophistication of the platform’s data insights in a variety of ways, including expanded hires across the data science, engineering, marketing and operations teams that will ultimately provide customers with more information and ongoing support. The brand will also prioritize the continued development of proprietary data sets and models, which offer homeowners across the country personalized analysis of over 70 million homes.
“People are homeowners for a lot longer than they’re homebuyers, and it’s crazy that they’re left to navigate so many large home decisions on their own,” said Jeff Richards, GGV managing partner and new board member. “Liz and her team have an inspiring vision to build the trusted platform for homeowners, and we believe Realm’s data and consumer trust obsessed strategy is the right approach.”
Realm has helped over 20,000 homeowners (and growing 50% month over month) uncover an average of $175,000 in untapped property value, the company said.
