Lone Wolf announces strategic investment from Stone Point Capital to accelerate growth
Investment will further enhance innovation and expand offerings to market
Lone Wolf Technologies today announced that funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC (“Stone Point”) will become Lone Wolf’s lead institutional investor, powering the next phase of the company’s growth.
Stone Point was attracted to Lone Wolf because of the company’s reputation as a leader and innovator in the real estate services industry, its track record of growth, and its future prospects. The Lone Wolf management team will remain with the company to execute on its strategic roadmap and continue to create a seamless digital experience for real estate brokers and agents throughout North America.
The deal marks an exit for leading global technology investor Vista Equity Partners, which first invested in Lone Wolf in 2015 in partnership with Lone Wolf’s founder, Lorne Wallace, and in 2016 made a follow-on investment in the business. “We can’t understate the relationship we had with Vista Equity,” says Lone Wolf CEO Jimmy Kelly. “They put us in a position to expand our offerings and serve our real estate clients.”
REAL Trends spoke with CEO Jimmy Kelly about the transition. “The first priority for us is to continue with investments that we’re currently making in our core solutions.” He notes that this acquisition will “accelerate the roadmap investment we already have to make sure existing customers get full value. The next phase is to look for opportunities to add existing value through partnerships in our digital marketplace, or from building or acquiring new solutions that are complementary to that transaction experience in the overall residential real estate continuum.”
The real estate industry is undergoing digital transformation as legacy manual processes and disparate systems transition to fully connected digital experiences. These trends are further spurred by the COVID- 19 pandemic, with real estate professionals requiring digital tools to provide first-class experiences for buyers and sellers. Lone Wolf leads the way, offering the industry’s only end-to-end digital experience through transaction management tools, Marketplace partnerships, and back office products.
“We’ve seen the adoption of tech over the last six months increase at a pace that was greater than last few years in residential and that trend will continue,” says Kelly. “Consumers are demanding a digital experience and that requires a broker and agent to adapt and adopt to that reality. I think they are doing a good job.”
This investment by Stone Point empowers Lone Wolf to continue transforming real estate technology by enabling the acceleration of innovation with a mission to simplify the real estate experience for all.
“Right now, there are so many solutions and platforms that still offer a somewhat clunky experience, so the trend will be an offering—whether a single provider or a collection of providers— fully integrated, single sign-on, end-to-end platforms all in conjunction with MLS, in a shared platform where the broker and agent have control of that data,” says Kelly.
Stone Point’s expertise in real estate services and technology will help Lone Wolf streamline the end-to- end experience for agents and brokers, enabling them to deliver unparalleled experiences to their clients and members. Stone Point will provide Lone Wolf with additional growth capital to accelerate organic and inorganic product development.
Over the past five years, Lone Wolf has significantly expanded its product portfolio beyond its flagship back office solution to encompass forms and transaction management through the national member benefits in the U.S. and Canada, Transactions (zipForm Edition) and CREA WEBForms®, respectively. The company has also incorporated new and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning with the launch of Lone Wolf Insights, while its most recent offering, Lone Wolf Marketplace, brings together over 30 partners to provide an all-in-one platform for agents and brokers. Collectively, these solutions now serve more than 1.4 million agents, 8,000 brokerages, and hundreds of MLSs and associations across North America.
“We’re excited to work with the team at Stone Point to continue our strategic growth,” said Kelly. “Stone Point’s investment aligns with our vision to create a truly connected, fully digital real estate experience. We are thankful for the partnership and leadership of Vista Equity Partners over the last five years, and we remain committed to serving the real estate industry going forward.”