Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based startup whose software platform connects sellers with local real estate agents, plans to expand its workforce and its reach in the mortgage sector after raising $8 million in Series B funding round.
St. Louis-based Cultivation Capital led the financing, which included strategic investment from The Mortgage Collaborative Emerging Technology Fund of San Diego.
Clever’s platform connects sellers with local real estate agents who then list the seller’s home for a flat fee of $3,000, or 1% for homes over $350,000. The company reached $4 billion in total real estate sold through its platform this year and is on pace to sell over 6,000 homes in 2021, officials said.
Ben Mizes, Clever's co-founder and CEO, said in a statement, "Clever's model has helped consumers save over $80 million in fees, while helping over 12,000 top agents nationwide build their business."
Clever, which doubled its headcount to 75 since the start of this year, plans to grow its team to 200 full-time employees in 2022. Much of that hiring will support the company's new platform for mortgage lenders.
"We partnered with agents to give consumers the power to choose better rates and better service. Now, we're doing the same thing for the mortgage industry," said Luke Babich, Clever's co-founder and COO. "Online lenders offer the best rates but lose out because they don't have the tools to support a home buyer through their whole journey. Clever fills this gap: We enable lenders to build a cohesive real estate team for their borrowers with a top agent, concierge service, and cash back at closing."
"The TMC Emerging Tech Fund invests in companies that will shift paradigms in the mortgage industry. We believe we found this type of company in Clever Real Estate." said Owen Lee, limited partner of TMC's Fund and co-owner of Success Mortgage Partners. "We're excited to support their continued success both with our investment and as early adopters of their lender platform."
The Series B funding brings Clever's total funding raised to $13.5 million. Cultivation Capital also led the company's $3.5 million Series A round in 2019.
"The performance at Clever has been impressive," said Cliff Holekamp, co-founder and managing director at Cultivation Capital and member of Clever’s Board of Directors. “Clever has over 1,300 customer reviews on TrustPilot.com with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. They have proven that they are able to rapidly scale their business while still maintaining the highest levels of service for their clients."
