SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Sundae, a residential real estate marketplace focused on helping sellers of dated or damaged property get the best price for their house, recently closed $80 million in Series C funding. The financing was co-led by Fifth Wall and General Global Capital, with additional participation from QED Investors, Wellington Management, Susa Ventures, Founders Fund, First American Financial, Prudence Holdings, Crossover VC, Intersect Capital, Gaingels, and Oberndorf Ventures. This investment round brings Sundae's total funding to $135 million and comes less than nine months after announcing the company's Series B.
Sundae offers sellers a transparent and trusted way to sell without the hassle of home repairs, cleanings, and showings. Instead of talking to multiple 'cash-buyer' wholesalers who make a quick profit by assigning the contract to a property investor, Sundae's marketplace serves as an advocate for the seller and does the hard work for them by packaging and marketing the property to a large pool of qualified buyers. Sundae's marketplace is free to sellers and there's no obligation to accept an offer. On average sellers receive ten offers within three days on the marketplace.
"For too long, homeowners trying to sell a house that needs love have been taken advantage of, selling for much less than their home is worth. Our goal is to displace wholesalers who exploit desperate or uninformed sellers and lock them into a contract which they turn around and assign to a property investor at a steep profit. The tens of thousands of dollars in lost equity that goes to a wholesaler could mean the difference between paying off debts, or having enough money to retire," said Josh Stech, CEO of Sundae. "By introducing Sundae as a marketplace that connects sellers directly to hundreds of vetted local property investors, we're cutting out the predatory middle man through a transparent, reliable and competitive offer process that ensures homeowners get a fair price and keep more of their equity. We're thrilled to use this funding to continue building Sundae into the category defining marketplace for houses that need love."
In addition to helping sellers, Sundae's two-sided marketplace serves the needs of real estate agents working with those sellers, and investors looking for properties they can buy in order to grow their business. For investors, Sundae helps with the difficult task of finding these properties, and offers an online platform at investor.sundae.com where they can view available properties and make offers. Once an investor signs up to join the marketplace, they can access the full inventory of properties with detailed information including photos, floor plan, 3D walkthrough, and a 3rd party inspection report.
Since raising a Series A and Series B in 2020 led by QED Investors, the company has experienced accelerated growth, with expansion from four markets in California at the end of last year, to now operating in over a dozen markets across Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, and Utah and more opening soon. The company's rapid expansion also comes as Sundae announces new additions to its leadership team: Kartik Ramachandran as CFO & COO, Madhav Ranjan as SVP, Product & Engineering, and Shane Steele who has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer.
A number of notable individual investors also participated in the round including Grammy Award-winning artist and Actor/Producer Will Smith from Dreamers VC, KYGO and Palm Tree Crew, three-time NFL Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour of 93 Ventures, NFL All-Pro DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks, Matt Chapman of the Oakland A's, NBA World Champion Alex Caruso of the Los Angeles Lakers, Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets, Solomon Hill of the Atlanta Hawks, Kelly Olynyk of the Houston Rockets, NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas, three-time NBA Champion & Gold Medalist Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, Hassan Whiteside of the Sacramento Kings, Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors, and 2020 US Soccer Player of the Year and Juventus midfielder, Weston McKennie.
Sundae will use the funds to continue expanding to new markets, investing in its online marketplace platform and digital tools for sellers and buyers, and building brand awareness to reach more homeowners and property investors across the country.
"Sundae is serving a segment of the residential real estate market that has been overlooked until now. Their marketplace model simultaneously solves a crucial pain point for sellers by disrupting the wholesale industry, while delivering a platform that property investors can count on for reliable investment opportunities," said Vik Chawla, Partner at Fifth Wall. "Sundae's seasoned team of real estate experts and category-defining brand has cemented them as the leading player in the off-market real estate sales industry. We're thrilled to support them in their nation-wide expansion as they redefine the off-market distressed residential real-estate and property investing space."
Sundae is actively expanding its team of City General Managers and local market experts who reflect the diversity of the communities they serve in major metros across the U.S. To help facilitate its rapid growth, the company has adopted a remote-work structure that allows for centralized teams such as Engineering, Finance and Marketing to hire personnel in any U.S. location. Sundae's list of open roles can be found at sundae.com/careers.
About Sundae
Sundae's misson is to help homeowners get the best outcome when it's time to sell a house that needs some love. Many sellers don't have the time or resources to invest in repairs and cleaning to get the home market-ready. We started Sundae to help sellers in this situation by offering a hassle-free alternative to the traditional real estate agent sales process and a worry-free alternative to predatory "cash-buyer" wholesalers. Homeowners can learn more about how to spot and avoid wholesaling scams by visiting our Selling Scam-Free resource page at sundae.com/better-way. For property investors, Sundae helps with the difficult task of finding houses in need of renovation, and offers an online platform at investor.sundae.com where they can view available properties and make offers.
Founded in August 2018 by veteran real estate and marketplace executives Josh Stech and Andrew Swain, Sundae's team brings a combined 250+ years of local real estate experience. Sundae is headquartered in San Francisco, CA and is hiring in markets across the U.S. To learn more visit sundae.com.
Media Contact
Kaitlyn Hunter, Pitch Public Relations, +1 505.450.2349, [email protected]
SOURCE Sundae
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