Prevu, a customer-focused digital home buying platform delivering industry-leading efficiency and savings, announced today the closing of its $2 million seed funding round. The round was led by Corigin Ventures, a prominent seed-stage venture capital firm with expertise in the real estate technology and consumer industries as well as a history of backing startups disrupting residential brokerage business models. Prior successful investments include Compass, Transfix, Latch, ClassPass and Wheels Up. Kairos and AVG Basecamp Fund also contributed to the seed round.
Unlike the majority of residential real estate technology firms and tech-enabled brokerages that focus on optimizing the seller experience, Prevu was designed to offer buyers an unparalleled value proposition. With Prevu, customers benefit from a seamless, modern online experience and the opportunity to save time and money while taking greater control over the most important financial decision of their lives – purchasing a home.
Thomas Kutzman, co-founder of Prevu, said: “The bottom line is that the traditional residential real estate industry is antiquated and inefficient with the majority of agents pulling clients offline at the first opportunity to control the process. Buyers no longer need to rely on agents as the gatekeepers of information, which is available at their fingertips online. We were incredibly frustrated by our own experiences in buying real estate, and we sought to create a truly intuitive model that gives control back to consumers and eliminates a lot of the stress involved. Our Smart Buyer™ platform was created to address these inefficiencies and provide greater control to buyers, while delivering rebates that help to offset the significant expenses involved in purchasing a home.”
Prevu’s Smart Buyer™ platform offers buyers a sophisticated, zero-pressure approach to homebuying, creating an efficient structure that equips them with the tools and advice needed to guide them through the early phases of the process while capitalizing on how consumers prefer to interact. The company’s expert agents are on hand to answer questions along the way and step in during the complicated last mile, assisting buyers to schedule a tour, make an offer, negotiate a purchase and close on a transaction – all through Prevu’s platform. Whereas the preponderance of buyers’ agents keep the full 3 percent commission paid on a transaction, Prevu passes two-thirds of its commission back to each buyer who completes a purchase on the platform, delivering a rebate of up to 2 percent. This represents a significant cost savings to buyers, as customers who have used Prevu to purchase homes have received rebates of $23,000 on average.
Chase Marsh, co-founder of Prevu, added: “Prevu has been on a mission to save homebuyers money since launching our Smart Buyer™ platform in 2017. We have invested heavily in understanding the homebuyer, creating an environment that anticipates their needs and delivers a confidence-inspiring experience. Access to information has empowered consumers, creating less of a need for agents to be involved in the early stages of the process. Our platform recognizes this shifting consumer preference and gives consumers the tools they need to manage the process at their own pace, on their schedule and with the promise of a compelling, meaningful rebate.”
Messrs. Kutzman and Marsh launched Prevu to establish a smarter way to transact due to their shared frustration over the lack of control and transparency they experienced in the homebuying process. Both having backgrounds in finance roles, Prevu’s creation was informed by their collective knowledge of the capital markets and experience evaluating public companies and equity market structures, resulting in an easy-to-use, solutions-oriented platform geared towards homebuyers – which they believe to be a large, underserved segment of the real estate industry that presents an untapped avenue for growth. Moreover, in evaluating the existing landscape of traditional and tech-enabled residential real estate brokerages, the partners found that the vast majority of traditional agents spend up to 70 percent of their time on new client acquisition, with only 30 percent dedicated to customer service. Prevu’s technology is designed to drive agent efficiency, enabling its network of local experts to do a higher volume of deals and spend 100 percent of their time focused on customer service.
Ryan Freedman, General Partner at Corigin, who joined Prevu’s Board of Directors upon completion of the seed round, stated, “We’ve had our eyes on this space ever since we invested in Compass in 2012. The traditional homebuying process is ripe for change, as buyers are empowered now more than ever to take control into their own hands – especially when it comes to search and exploration. Prevu has built an amazing brand around working with ‘smart buyers,’ and these consumers are thrilled to be able to put 2 percent of their purchase back into their pockets. We’re excited about partnering with Chase and Thomas and look forward to helping them build a very large business.”
Prevu currently operates in the New York Metropolitan Area and Connecticut and has grown rapidly in the region as an increasing number of buyers have recognized the value and opportunity the platform presents. This funding will enable the company to grow its engineering team to further enhance its differentiated technology platform and strategically expand to new geographic markets.
About Prevu
Prevu is a real estate technology company on a mission to save homebuyers money. The company’s digital Smart Buyer™ platform offers a homebuying experience with unparalleled control, transparency and savings when purchasing a home. With Prevu, consumers can seamlessly search, offer and save up to 2 percent of the purchase price when they buy a home. This zero-pressure online experience delivers a smarter, more efficient way for homebuyers to transact.
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