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Fello, formerly known as FlashHouse, has raised $25 million in a combination of debt and equity funding led by Javelin Venture Partners with participation from former Realtor.com Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Ben Rubenstein to help empower real estate agents with an iBuying solution.
Founded in 2019, FlashHouse was originally created to help make the home selling experience easier for everyone. They developed a platform that allowed homeowners to bring their own local, trusted real estate agents to advise on the process and get a competitive cash offer.
Over the course of the past 3 years, the Cleveland technology startup helped more than 250 residential homeowners in Northeast Ohio sell their homes seamlessly during the pandemic.
Say Hello to Fello
Recently on June 3, 2022, FlashHouse announced it had officially rebranded to Fello—an agent-led iBuying startup with a new business model that empowers home sellers to explore all of their options—from receiving competitive cash offers from Fello to the traditional listing experience—all with the guidance of their trusted local real estate agent.
And if a particular homeowner doesn't have a preferred agent to work with, Fello also partners with the top local real estate agents to help homeowners find their perfect advisor. Using Fello's new technology-forward platform with property data provided by Estated, agents remain at the centre of every transaction and every client relationship.
Fello provides agents with the best of both worlds for their clients. They have the ability to provide every homeowner with a no-obligation, competitive cash offer in less than 24 hours using Fello's iBuying option that helps eliminate the uncertainty of showings and repairs or sellers can still use the traditional listing method if preferred—whichever option helps the homeowner sell in the best way for them.
With Fello, the local agent stays in control of the sale, maintains the listing, and receives their full commission—every single time.
Expanding an Agent-led iBuying Solution
On June 28, 2022, Fello announced it had secured $25 million in debt and equity to scale its mission of empowering all agents with an iBuying solution and provide home sellers with a seamless and trusted experience.
The equity funding round was led by San Francisco-based venture capital firm Javelin Venture Partners with participation from Ben Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Current President of Setpoint (who will be featured in next week's Funding Fridays article), Founder of OpCity (acquired by Realtor.com in 2018), and former Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Realtor.com.
Learn more about Fello and discover a better home selling experience at HiFello.com!
CEO Take: Fello's new business model revolves around their belief that people should be at the forefront and heart of the real estate transaction, not solely technology.
And while they do empower agents and provide homeowners with an impressive array of optionality, they also understand the vital importance and emergence of proptech that is transforming the real estate industry.
Under advisement from Javelin Venture Partners—a venture capital firm that only invests in advanced, bleeding-edge innovation startups—and real estate tech extraordinaire Ben Rubenstein, Fello has created a model using sophisticated technology that provides an ideal solution for both home sellers and real estate agents alike.
And at the heart of Fello's unique business model is a technology-forward platform that harnesses data to create a seamless experience for both agents and customers. Fello uses various data points from public record data suppled by Estated to:
- Verify ownership information,
- Validate property features and information, and
- Assess and evaluate properties using their automated valuation model (AVM).
Fello has essentially created its own iBuying operations category that's very similar to power buying with the only difference being that it is agent-led and driven.
It's an impressive deployment of data, technology, human ingenuity, and client-focused relationships for a proptech company that has a bright future ahead of them.
From our entire team here at Estated, congratulations to everyone over at Fello on your recent rebranding and this latest funding round. We can't wait to see what's to come for Fello in the coming years!
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Interested in how you or your company can start using property data to enhance your business operations or customer experience?
From property information verification to accurate automated valuation modelling (AVM), Estated can assist you with any and all of your data data needs.
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About Estated: Estated is a leading property data provider with records on over 150 million residential and commercial properties nationwide across the United States.
