Public notary platform Notarize disclosed more information on its recent round of funding worth $20 million. BostInno wrote about the funding last month, revealed in a regulatory filing dated April 12.
The company was founded in 2015 by entrepreneur and investor Pat Kinsel. When asked Kinsel why he had to wait a month to comment on the funding round, he said that they had a lot to coordinate with the strategic investors in the round.
Specifically, Notarize had to finalize commercial agreements with participating investors Lennar Corporation, a Florida-based homebuilder, and Realogy Holdings Corp., a real estate company based New Jersey.
"It was a lot of things to pull together all at once," Kinsel said.
The new capital, which brings the total funding to date to $31 million, is a Series B round and included the strategic investment made by Second Century Ventures - the venture arm of the National Association of Realtors - announced by Notarize last October.
The round was led by Polaris Partners, a Boston-based VC and private equity firm focused on technology. Kinsel has been a venture partner at Polaris since 2014.
Notarize provides online services for executing mortgages and notarizing documents and will use the proceeds to increase headcount across sales, marketing, engineering and customer success.
Notarize operates out of offices in Boston's Back Bay, with a team of approximately 63 people, and Arlington, VA, with a team of around 20 employees. Currently, the company serves the rest of the country from Virginia, but it expects to open new offices in states where notaries will be allowed by law to perform their services electronically.
Kinsel said that in June, Notarize will open a new office in Dallas, TX, aiming at building a team of around 15 people. Another office in Nevada will open in the summer.
"Long story short, we're depending upon the states putting in place their regulation," Kinsel explained. "And Texas is a little ahead of Nevada."
Notarize plans to hire local notaries as well as people in sales, customer support and training in local markets.
Adding partners like Lennar and Realogy is a remarkable validation for the company, Kinsel said. "When we built this product and launched this company, many, many people told us that this was never possible... We're just going to build a great service and just really nailed it," he noted.
In addition to Second Century Ventures, Lennar Corporation and a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp., participating investors in this round include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Fifth Wall Ventures.
