Scottsdale-based real estate proptech company HomeLight has entered into an agreement to acquire Accept.inc, a Denver-based fintech lender that gives homebuyers a way to submit all-cash offers on a home.
With this all-stock transaction, HomeLight will become the largest agent-focused cash offer program in the country, with $3 billion in referred transaction volume during the first quarter of 2022 alone, said Drew Uher, founder and CEO of HomeLight.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
The company has also recently raised $115 million in additional capital, Uher said, including $60 million of Series D equity and $55 million of debt financing from previous backer Palo Alto-based Zeev Ventures to fund operations. This brings HomeLight's total funding to about $645 million to date and boosts its valuation to $1.7 billion. The company was mentioned this week in a global report that pegged the Phoenix-area as a growing global startup hub.
HomeLight brought in one of the Valley's biggest financing deals for startups in 2021 when it corralled $363 million in debt and equity financing.
"Our vision is that in five to 10 years every real estate transaction is going to be effectively a cash transaction," Uher said.
Adam Pollack, co-founder and CEO of Accept.inc, said he's been focusing on the Colorado market since launching it in June 2019. While he's completed cash offers in a handful of other states since then, now he will be able to have a larger launching pad to offer the service nationwide.
Since the company's inception, Accept.inc has bought and sold $1 billion worth of homes, he said.
Founded in January 2012, HomeLight employs 775 across the globe, with about 170 people in Arizona.
How they connected
Pollack was referred to Uher by an investor, reaching out to Uher at the end of 2021.
"It was clear to me — and eventually clear to HomeLight — that there was a whole lot to gain from potentially exploring partnering up, taking our vision to every agent in the country. Our vision is to put a cash offer in every home through real estate agents. That's distinct from other players in the space."
An agent-focused cash offer program will be the future of real estate, Uher said.
"We've been working with top agents for a decade now with our other products, including a referral product," Uher said, adding that HomeLight partners with 28,000 top agents across the country.
Pollack and his team will stay on with HomeLight to run the cash offer product nationally. Pollack now becomes head of new products for HomeLight.
"I can't wait to scale this thing out and bring speed and certainty to every transaction," Pollack said.
HomeLight shifted its headquarters from the West Coast to the Valley in 2021.
