Agent Ace, a data-driven real estate agent recommendation service, announced this week that it acquired fypio, a real estate company that provides homebuyers with a personalized, lifestyle-driven search experience.
The two companies will rebrand and relaunch as OpenHouse.
According to a release from the companies, OpenHouse is a new real estate lifestyle search company that combines property search, data-driven real estate agent recommendations, and in-depth neighborhood and community information.
“OpenHouse combines Agent Ace’s objective and unbiased real estate agent recommendation service with fypio’s personalized home search, giving consumers a comprehensive and compelling way to find their dream home and a smarter way to connect with the agent that can make it a reality,” the companies said in a release.
As part of the acquisition announcement, OpenHouse also said that it secured $13.5 million in Series A funding in a round led by Triangle Peak Partners and March Capital Partners, with participation from additional investors.
Mazen Fawaz founded Agent Ace in 2010. Prior to the acquisition and merger, Agent Ace has raised more than $6 million in funding, is available in more than 75 major U.S. metro areas and is a licensed real estate broker in 37 states.
The company said that it will soon be licensed in more states, as well.
fypio was founded by Michael Koh and John Kvasni in 2013. Prior to the acquisition, fypio has received $2.4 million in funding.
Fawaz will serve as CEO of OpenHouse and Kvasnic has been appointed chief product officer.
“Finding an ideal home is often difficult for people to navigate without the right agent as their guide to the ins-and-outs of the local market and specific neighborhoods,” Fawaz said.
“fypio built something truly special and innovative, tapping into all the right data to give current and prospective home buyers exactly what they are looking for in a house and neighborhood,” Fawaz continued.
“We will continue to take that to a level unseen anywhere else – our belief is in complete transparency for the consumer,” Fawaz said. “With our new round of funding and the fypio acquisition, we’re thrilled to introduce a new way to search for real estate and get connected to the right agent – OpenHouse will be key to the home buying and selling process.”
According to the company, OpenHouse offers consumers the “most personalized and hyper-local” home search and buying experience by using data, demographic information and social media.
“OpenHouse is the only company that aggregates and translates real-time real estate transaction and social data to give consumers true insight on their desired neighborhood and the neighbors that live there,” the company said.
OpenHouse is currently available for iPhone in the App Store and on the Web, and will soon be available via a desktop version on TheOpenHouse.com. The app is live in 14 metropolitan areas, and will continue rolling out to additional metros nationwide in early 2016, the company said.
“Agent Ace spent two years building an unrivaled data backbone, and with their patented technology, the team nailed matching home buyers with the perfect real estate agent,” Kvasnic said.
“By combining those data-driven matchmaking capabilities with fypio’s real-time social data and lifestyle-focused design, we are excited to collectively become OpenHouse and provide consumers a vivid portrait of what it could be like in a home they are exploring, and even compare it to the home and life they have today,” Kvasnic continued.
“It’s not only about bedroom counts and price. It’s about having great neighbors, the education and opportunities for children, and being happy in a house that works with personal design tastes and styles,” Kvasnic said. “OpenHouse will not only give people the most transparency on the property listing, but also to the life they and their family will be leading.”
