Around this time last year, Knock, a real estate startup that buys homes directly from homeowners, unveiled an expansion plan that would see the company grow its business beyond its first market of Atlanta, where it launched in 2016.
Since then, the company has indeed expanded and is now operating in five markets, but the company has much bigger plans than that.
And now, the company has the money to reach those goals.
Knock announced Tuesday that it raised $400 million in Series B equity and debt financing, led by venture capital firm Foundry Group. Also participating in the funding round were existing investors RRE Ventures, Corazon Capital, WTI, and FJ Labs, and new investor Company Ventures.
According to the company, the new funding will allow it to continue its nationwide expansion, add employees, and perhaps most importantly, advance the development of the technology that powers the company’s signature offering, the “home trade-in” program.
Under the program, the company buys a homeowner’s house and moves them into a new house of their choosing before putting the homeowner’s old house on the market.
The company charges consumers the traditional 3% commission, but claims that its program simplifies the home selling and buying process and carries significant advantages over the traditional home buying process.
“The trade-in saves consumers months of inconvenient repairs, showings and uncertainty, without forcing them to give up any more of their hard-earned equity,” the company previously said. “Knock.com’s all cash offer also ensures its customers get the best price on their new house, and eliminates the risk of losing it to another buyer while they wait for their old home to sell.”
The company is currently operating in Atlanta; Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
And with $400 million in new funding, the company plans to bring the home trade-in to more customers nationwide.
“At Knock we believe the only way to revolutionize the real estate industry is by addressing both home buying and selling, given 71% of consumers are doing both at the same time, which is why we’re creating a marketplace solution with our Home Trade-in platform,” said Sean Black, co-founder and CEO of Knock. “As we celebrate the success of the Trade-in with this latest round of funding, we are excited to have found investors and partners in Foundry Group, which has successfully helped other marketplace companies like Rover and Havenly scale platforms that transform traditional industries for a better, technology-powered consumer experience.”
As part of the funding round, Foundry Group Partner Seth Levine is joining Knock’s board of directors.
“At Foundry we love working with passionate founders who are on a mission to fundamentally change an industry. The Knock team is exactly that — combining years of experience in real estate technology with a fundamental drive to change the way consumers buy and sell homes,” Levine said. “This is an unstoppable combination that we believe will transform the outdated real estate industry.”
According to the company, the latest round of funding brings its total of equity and debt to more than $600 million.
