Reali

Reali, a real estate technology startup, announced it was shutting down and laying off most of its workforce on September 9, 2022.^1235789 The company cited challenging real estate and financial market conditions and an unfavorable capital-raising environment as reasons for the closure.¹³⁵⁷⁸⁹ Reali had raised over $290 million in debt and equity funding since its founding in 2016, including a $100 million Series B in August 2021.¹³⁵

Timeline

Money raised

Reali raised a $1 million seed round in October 2016.¹⁰ Reali raised a $3 million Series A round in April 2017.¹⁰ Reali raised a $7 million Series A round in December 2017.¹⁰ Reali raised a $20 million Series B round in August 2018.¹⁰¹⁴ Reali raised a $9 million Series B2 round led by Group 11 in May 2019.¹⁴ Reali raised a $12 million Series B round in July 2019.¹⁰ Reali raised a $100 million Series B round led by Zeev Ventures in August 2021.^1235811 Reali raised $250 million in debt and equity financing in August 2021, including $75 million in equity and $25 million in venture debt.^2101115 Reali's total funding was reported as over $290 million in debt and equity.¹³⁵ Reali's total funding was reported as $292.4 million by Crunchbase.⁸

Investors named in the sources: Zeev Ventures^123581114, Akkadian Ventures¹²⁸¹¹, Signia Ventures^1281114, Group 11¹⁴, Joe Montana², Dovi Frances², American Express Ventures¹⁰, Battery Ventures¹⁰, CapitalG¹⁰, FinTLV Ventures¹⁰, Jigsaw VC¹⁰, MS&AD Ventures¹⁰, Munich Re / HSB Ventures¹⁰, Redpoint Ventures¹⁰, RTP Global¹⁰, Zeev Capital¹⁰, Oren Zeev¹⁰, Signia Venture Partners¹⁰, ED Cluss¹⁰, Warren Weiss¹⁰, Mike Miller¹⁰, BOB¹⁰, Greenfield Partners¹⁰, Pitango Venture Capital¹⁰, WestWave Capital¹⁰, Ajay Shah¹⁰, Moshe Lichtman¹⁰, Rafi Gidron¹⁰, Yuda Doron¹⁰, Dragonfly Investments Group¹⁰.

What happened

Reali was founded in Israel in 2015 by Amit Haller and Ami Avrahami.²³⁵⁸¹⁰ The founders started Reali out of personal frustration as real estate investors with the quality of service provided by agents and the high commissions they paid.¹ Reali launched its flat-fee brokerage in California in 2016.³ Reali aimed to make the real estate buying and selling process more transparent, honest, and professional.¹ Reali offered customers the ability to buy and sell in one coordinated transaction, eliminating resale contingencies, moving twice, and paying two mortgages at once.¹²³⁵⁸

Reali provided a flat-fee model instead of traditional commission fees.¹³¹⁴ Reali expanded into mortgage lending by acquiring Lenda, an online mortgage lender, in 2019.³¹⁴ Reali integrated Lenda into Reali Loans, which provided mortgage financing in 14 states.³ Reali acquired California real estate brokerage TXR Homes with 90 agents in January 2021 and expanded to San Diego.³ Reali operated in six regions of California including the San Francisco Bay area and the Inland Empire.⁵

Reali employed 180 people in the U.S. and 25 in Israel at the time of its August 2021 funding round.¹³ In March 2020, Reali cut 50% of its workforce and dropped to less than 20 employees in Israel due to the pandemic.³ Reali employed around 140 people, including eight in Israel, at the time of its shutdown announcement.² Reali raised over $290 million in debt and equity funding since its founding.¹³⁵ Reali's last raise was a $100 million Series B in August 2021 led by Zeev Ventures.^1235811

Reali also raised $250 million in debt and equity financing in August 2021.¹⁰¹¹¹⁵ Reali announced plans to expand outside California and into other states by the end of 2022.⁷ Reali conducted a round of layoffs earlier in 2022.⁹ Reali launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for recently separated employees facing sudden financial difficulty.⁹ On August 24, 2022, Reali announced it was ceasing operations and laying off most of its workforce on September 9.^1235789

Reali cited challenging real estate and financial market conditions and an unfavorable capital-raising environment as reasons for the shutdown.¹³⁵⁷⁸⁹ Reali said a small team of employees would continue to support active real estate transactions through the end of the year.¹³⁵⁷⁸⁹ Reali was in discussions with entities interested in buying parts of its business, including mortgage origination, title and escrow, and power buying.¹³⁵⁷⁸⁹ Reali's co-founder and chairman Amit Haller said the company was one of the pioneering companies to offer 'buy before you sell' and 'cash offer' programs to homeowners.¹⁷⁸ Reali CEO Tyler Baldwin said the company had an incredible six-year run delighting homeowners.⁵⁷

Reali's shutdown came amid a broader slowdown in the housing market and layoffs at other venture capital-fueled real estate companies.¹³⁵ Homeward laid off 20% of its workforce around the same time.¹³ Better.com laid off thousands of employees in 2022.¹⁵ Flyhomes laid off 20% of its employees in July 2022.³ Reali's founders Amit Haller and Ami Avrahami also founded Veev, a real estate developer turned tech-enabled homebuilder.¹²

Veev raised $400 million in a Series D round in March 2022, reaching unicorn status.¹² Reali's total funding was reported as $292.4 million by Crunchbase.⁸ Reali's total funding was reported as $368 million across 7 funding rounds by Startup Intros.¹⁰ Reali's AI price predictor was developed by Temy and launched in 6 months.¹³ Reali's AI price predictor achieved 95% accuracy in predicting home sale prices.¹³

Reali's users saved an average of $16,000 when buying a home, according to the company.¹⁵ Reali's transaction volume more than tripled in the year before May 2019.¹⁴ Reali's headcount grew by nearly 40% in the year before May 2019.¹⁴ Reali was actively recruiting key hires in product, engineering, real estate, and marketing in both the U.S. and Israel in May 2019.¹⁴ Reali's Series B2 round was led by Group 11, with participation from Zeev Ventures and Signia Ventures.¹⁴

Reali's Series B2 round raised $9 million.¹⁴ Reali used some of its $20 million Series B funding to acquire Lenda.¹⁴ Reali's Series B round in August 2021 included $75 million in equity and $25 million in venture debt.²¹⁵ Reali's investors included Joe Montana through his Liquid2 fund and Dovi Frances.² Reali's headquarters was in San Mateo, California.³⁸¹⁰

Reali had 33 broker associates and 227 salespersons affiliated with its San Mateo headquarter office, according to the California Department of Real Estate.³ Reali did not respond to questions regarding the size of the upcoming layoff in September and the total number of employees.³

Where the founders are now

Amit Haller and Ami Avrahami also founded Veev, a real estate developer turned tech-enabled homebuilder.¹² Veev raised $400 million in a Series D round in March 2022, reaching unicorn status.¹²

Sources

1. Real estate tech startup Reali to shut down after raising $100M, TechCrunch, 2022-08-25
2. Real estate platform Reali shutting down operations | CTech, ctech, 2022-08-24
3. Real estate startup Reali to shut down, HousingWire, Aug 26, 20
5. Proptech Startup Shuts Down One Year After Raising $100M, Citing Market Conditions, Bisnow, 2022-08-26
7. Reali to close down, reveals job cuts, Mortgage Professional, 2022-08-25
8. Home selling startup Reali to close its doors, The Real Deal, 2022-08-26
9. Reali is shutting down, Coverager - Insurance news and insights, 2022-08-26
10. Reali: Funding, Team & Investors, Startup Intros, Jul 13, 20
11. Real estate fintech Reali raises $250m funding, fintechfutures.com
13. Reali Secures $290 Million in Funding with AI Home Price Predictor | Temy, Temy
14. Fresh off expanding into mortgages, Reali raises millions to continue growing, HousingWire, May 9, 201
15. Tech Buzz: Reali raises $250m. | The Jerusalem Post, The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com, Aug 19, 20

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