HomeLight
 |
| HomeLight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Industry | Real estate |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Drew Uher, CEO |
| Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Services | Brokerage Services |
| Website | www |
HomeLight is a real estate technology company founded in San Francisco, CA and based in Scottsdale, AZ.
Its products and services include a platform that matches consumers with a network of real estate agents who participate in the company's referral fee program, as well as direct home purchasing and financing services.
History
HomeLight was founded in 2012 by Drew Uher, the company's CEO, after he and his wife had difficulty researching agents based on needs or qualifications. The business, which was originally aimed at buyers, focuses on sellers.
In February 2015, the company received $3 million in funding led by Bullpen Ventures, with participation from Montage Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Krillion Ventures, 500 Startups, and Western Technology Investment. The company has seen growth while increasing funding and engaging in mergers and acquisitions:
- 2016 HomeLight received $11 million in funding from Zeev Ventures, and Group 11.
- 2017 The company had raised a total of $15.5 million from investors. In August, HomeLight raised $40 million in Series B funding in a round led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Citi Ventures, as well as previous investors Zeev Ventures, Group 11, Crosslink Capital, and Innovation Endeavors.
- 2018 In January, HomeLight announced a partnership with Yelp to add data from HomeLight's algorithm to Yelp's Home Services listings.
- 2019 In July, HomeLight acquired Eave, a digital mortgage startup. In November HomeLight secured a total of $160 million from Zeev Ventures, Group 11, Menlo Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Stereo Capital, and others.
- 2020 In August, the company acquired Disclosures.io and introduced a new service to assist real estate agents called HomeLight Listing Management.
- 2021 HomeLight partnered with the National Association of Real Estate Brokers to launch the Black Real Estate Agent Program, which provides stipends and mentorship for aspiring African-American real estate professionals to help them start their careers in the industry. In early September, HomeLight was valued at $1.6 billion.
- 2022 In June, HomeLight acquired the proptech company Accept.inc and simultaneously laid off 19% of its workforce, citing a cooling real estate market.
- 2022 In May, HomeLight initiated a federal lawsuit against competitor HomeOpenly, sparking a two-year legal battle that included federal counterclaims accusing HomeLight of antitrust violations and false advertising regarding its referral fee model and "100% free" marketing claims.
Products and services
HomeLight's algorithm ranks agents according to data including sales and agent records from over 100 sources and approximately 30 million transactions nationwide. The algorithm ranks agents by price range, neighborhood, property type and experience level.
While the platform is free to consumers, HomeLight's algorithm only matches users with real estate agents who have signed an agreement to pay the company a referral fee upon closing, which increased to 33% of the agent's commission in late 2022. Consumer advocacy watchdogs, including the Consumer Federation of America, note that agents participating in high-fee referral networks generally have less flexibility to negotiate lower commission rates with buyers and sellers.
References
- ↑ Friedman, Nicole (10 March 2022). "Looking to Buy a House? Try Throwing in Free Frozen Yogurt, Concert Tickets". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ↑ Calvey, Mark (24 August 2021). "HomeLight is hitting the road — in more ways than one". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ↑ Lerner, Michelle (12 February 2019). "Two new online services are like Priceline.com for home sellers". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ↑ Bahney, Anna (2 June 2021). "All-cash offers are king in this hysterical real estate market. Here's what you need to know". CNN. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 Ryan Lawler (August 15, 2017). "Homelight raises $40 million to help home sellers find the best real estate agents". Tech Crunch.
- 1 2 3 Barzilay, Omri (August 15, 2017). "HomeLight Raises $40M In Series B Funding To Help You Find A Listing Agent". Forbes.
- 1 2 Martin, Susan Taylor (December 28, 2017). "Do seller-Realtor matching services work? We put two to the test". TBO.
- ↑ Dryburgh, Alastair (January 6, 2018). "Don't Disrupt; Work With Existing Forces". Forbes.
- 1 2 Ha, Anthony (February 4, 2015). "HomeLight Raises $3M More To Help Homebuyers And Sellers Find Real Estate Agents". Tech Crunch.
- ↑ Shallit, Bob. "Real estate matchmaker identifies top Sacramento agents based on data". The Sacramento Bee.
- ↑ Nanclare, Sindy (April 18, 2016). "Real estate marketplace HomeLight closes $11 million deal". Venture Beat.
- ↑ Li, Roland (August 15, 2017). "S.F. startup raises $40 million to rank residential real estate brokers". San Francisco Business Times.
- ↑ "HomeLight Partners with Yelp to Provide Data-Driven Insights on Real Estate Agents". Business Wire. January 9, 2018.
- ↑ "HomeLight Acquires Eave, a Digital Mortgage Lender, to Launch Mortgage Services in 6 U.S. States". finance.yahoo.com. Yahoo!. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ↑ "HomeLight raises $109 million for AI that matches home buyers with real estate agents". Venture Beat. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (2 September 2021). "HomeLight closes on $100M Series D at a $1.6B valuation as revenue surges". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ↑ Kamin, Debra (17 August 2021). "Real Estate Industry Works to Change Its Ways". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ↑ "HomeLight Nabs $1.6 Billion Valuation in Zeev Ventures-Led Round". Bloomberg. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (15 June 2022). "HomeLight acquires Accept.inc, gets $115M in funding and lays off 19% of staff". TechCrunch. Retrieved 7 November 2026.
- ↑ "HomeLight, Inc. v. Shkipin". CaseMine. September 27, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
- ↑ "Homelight, Inc. v. Shkipin et al, 5:2022cv03119". Justia. March 5, 2024. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
- ↑ O'Dell, J. (November 14, 2012). "HomeLight aims to change the real estate business with Google funding". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012.
- ↑ "HomeLight Hikes Lead Referral Fees". Online Marketplaces. October 26, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
- ↑ "Real Estate Referral Fee Report" (PDF). Consumer Federation of America. June 25, 2025. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
- ↑ Jarvis, Clayton (September 22, 2020). "Are referral fees doing damage to real estate consumers?". Mortgage Professional America. Retrieved November 7, 2026.
