Inman

Raise the funds to build your real estate tech venture

Money magnet image via Shutterstock.

There’s been an explosion of real estate tech startups and acquisitions of promising companies in the space.

Last month, realtor.com operator Move Inc. announced that it had acquired Doorsteps, a company that helps homebuyers and their agents walk through the homebuying process together.

Doorsteps — which had only opened its platform up to consumers in January — was just the latest in a string of recent acquisitions by Move that included eFrogPond Inc., Relocation.com, TigerLead Solutions LLC and SocialBios.

Move rivals Zillow and Trulia — flush with capital from their initial public offerings — have also been in acquisition mode.

Zillow, which went public in 2011 and raised $156.7 million in a follow-on offering that closed in September, has acquired a half dozen companies since 2011: HotPads, RentJuice, Mortech Inc., Buyfolio, Diverse Solutions and Postlets.

Last month, Trulia announced the biggest real estate tech deal to date — a planned $355 million acquisition of real estate marketing and technology company Market Leader Inc.

The National Association of Realtors, Realogy Holdings Corp. and Inman News have all launched initiatives aimed at fostering innovation.

At Real Estate Connect San Francisco, angel investors, venture capitalists and funded startups will discuss what business ideas have their attention in the real estate technology space today. They’ll provide insight into selecting a business model, fundraising and turning dreams into reality.

Participating in the Wednesday, July 10 panel, “Raising Money to Build Your Vision,” will be Doug Perlson, founder and CEO of RealDirect (@DougPerlson); Sean Jacobsohn, venture partner, Emergence Capital Partners (@sjacobsohn); Constance Freedman, managing director, Second Century Ventures (@COFreedman); Sina Shekou, co-founder, Propertyware; and Dana Kunz, CEO, MktLaunch (@dana_kunz‎).


Doug Perlson

Sean Jacobsohn

Constance Freedman

Sina Shekou

Dana Kunz

See more of what’s on the agenda at Real Estate Connect San Francisco, which takes place July 10-12 at the Hilton Union Square.

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