Brokerage

zavvie lands $3.65 million in new funding

Funding comes amid an increase of power buying and rent-to-own options

zavvie, a real estate tech company serving brokerages, landed $3.65 million in new funding, with $1.5 million in cash and $2.15 million in convertibles. The funding round was led by zavvie’s existing investors, including Second Century Ventures.

zavvie’s platform allows brokerages to offer a range of buying and selling options to clients, including power buying, buy before you sell, presale renovations, instant sales (iBuying) and rent-to-own.

Lane Hornung, CEO and co-founder of zavvie, says this year will be crucial for power buying because cash offers benefit first-time homebuyers. Presale renovations, which help homeowners sell their homes at a faster rate and a higher price, and rent-to-owns will also grow, he says.

“Most renters still want to buy a home, and with a Homeownership Accelerator program, they can rent their starter home today and own it tomorrow,” Hornung added.

zavvie’s brokerage-assisted transactions increased by more than 400% over 2021, with triple year-over-year revenue growth. The company’s footprint includes nearly every state, serving 75,000 agents.

Tyler Thompson, managing partner at Second Century Ventures, which is backed by the National Association of Realtors, will join zavvie’s board of directors. Thompson’s career spans more than 15 years in the startup industry, including leadership positions at companies like Black Shamrock and Deductr. He is also the CEO and director of Avalon Digital Marketing Systems, Inc. and CaptureQuest, Inc.

In October last year, zavvie partnered with CRM startup MoxiWorks, which aimed to integrate zavvie’s offerings into MoxiPresent and expand its brokerage reach to include MoxiWorks’ 800 brokerages and 400,000 agents in the country. Two months later, Windermere Real Estate launched Windermere Offers, powered by zavvie, which would allow a brokerage’s clients to see iBuyer offers on their home.

Along with these brokerage firms, zavvie also partnered with Kentwood Real Estate, a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate, Helen Adams Realty, and Crye-Leike Real Estate Services.