Real estate crowdfunding platform RealtyMogul has raised a sturdy $35 million in a Series B funding round. The valuation was not disclosed. The Funding was led by Sorenson Capital with early investor Canaan Partners joining in as well. The investment was described as a underscoring “RealtyMogul’s innovative technology for the full stack of real estate transactions, both debt and equity, and will help bring the $11 trillion commercial real estate market into the 21st century.”
Sorenson Capital tech lead Rob Rueckert said of the investment;
“We’re seeing online marketplaces massively transforming other industries, and RealtyMogul.com’s growth path clearly shows they’re poised to be the key disruptor in the huge asset class of real estate investing.”
Hrach Simonian, Partner at Canaan Partners, called RealtyMogul the “gold standard for commercial real estate capital on the internet”.
RealtyMogul, one of the earliest platforms in the space, is said to use the new funding to “boost its big data driven” investing platform and hire new “technologists”. RealtyMogul has raised over $70 million for 240 properties to date, making it one the largest real estate platforms in the US. The site currently offers fix-and-flip loans, bridge and permanent loans plus joint venture equity.
Founded by Jilliene Hellman, a prominent crowdfunding advocate, RealtyMogul has recently been on a hiring spree as the executive bench has jumped from 10 employees to 80 today. The company recently announced three “key hires” including Ryan Sakamoto as in-house general counsel, along with Michael Sanchez and Charles H. Kim in commercial lending.
Jilliene commented on the platforms dramatic rise stating;
“Our vision for RealtyMogul has always been to be a one stop shop for capital for real estate transactions – both debt and equity. We recently launched our commercial lending business which brings us one step closer to that vision. We expect our lending business to grow significantly as debt is a larger portion of an average real estate transactions than equity.”
RealyMogul’s announcement comes following several other real estate platforms announcing large investment rounds. Real estate and crowdfunding is, in many ways, a perfect match of technology and finance. Today those seeking capital for real estate projects are no longer encumbered by geography or laborious processes.
Asked how she sees the industry developing, Jilliene responded;
“As for how the industry will mature, I think more institutional investors will continue to partner with online platforms and the size and scale of transactions will continue to grow.”