Side secures over $60M to boost user experience

Paul Levine of Sapphire Ventures, and Former President of Trulia, Leads Series C Investment in Side

Side, a real estate brokerage that enables high-performing agents, teams, and local brokerages to grow their businesses and their own boutique brands, today announced it has raised over $60 million in total funding, including the most recent $35 million raised in a Series C round led by Paul Levine, Managing Director at Sapphire Ventures. Levine, who also joins Side's Board of Directors, was previously President/COO of Trulia through its IPO and multi-billion dollar acquisition by Zillow. Patricia Nakache of Trinity Ventures, Dana Stalder of Matrix Partners and a host of strategic real estate investors also participated in the round.

Side is on a mission to improve the way real estate works by enabling and empowering top performing agents to better serve the needs of home buyers and sellers. The funding will be used to further support Side's agent partners and nationwide expansion. This follows recent announcements of Side's expansion into Southern California and Texas, by partnering with top agents in those respective markets. Side's growing roster of partners includes Michael Silva, Founder of Happen Houston; Anthony Marguleas, Founder of Amalfi Estates; Bryn and Robb Stroyke, Founders of The Stroyke Properties Group at Bayside; Ben Bacal, Founder of Revel Real Estate; Dave Fratello, Founder of Edge Real Estate; Matt Luke, Founder of Major League Properties; Jared Jones and Brian Hopkins, Founders of Power of 2 Realty; Jeff Rosa, Founder of Market Real Estate; and Tyson Robinson, Founder of Trillion Real Estate, among others.

"Side partners with top-producing real estate agents and teams in each market, and provides a valuable mix of technology, support, and an economic model that helps entrepreneurial agents grow," said Paul Levine, Managing Director at Sapphire Ventures. "I'm delighted to join Side's board and be a part of the journey ahead."

Side CEO and Co-founder, Guy Gal, said: 

"It is great validation to have Paul and Sapphire Ventures as a lead investor, and we welcome their experience and support as we expand our reimagined brokerage model nationwide."

"By bringing the best agents in each market together and empowering them with a game plan, support team, and a one-of-a-kind technology platform that delivers a premium service, they're able to provide the best experience and results to more buyers and sellers. What consumers want most is a great experience and great results, and working with experienced agents is the best way to buy or sell a property, now and in the future."

Side is making a bet on the central role that high-performing agents play, and will continue to play, in a real estate transaction. The company only works with top-producing agents and teams and provides them with a proprietary back-office platform and the highest level of support in the industry.

The company's model is predicated on the idea that agents should focus on the high-value work of serving clients, while everything else should be handled by technology and specialized support staff. Agents who partner with Side own their business and benefit from an economic model designed to help them grow and continue to build highly-productive agent teams.

Led by experienced industry professionals and technology innovators, Side has developed a proprietary end-to-end platform from the ground up that improves agent productivity, growth, compliance, marketing, and client experience. As a result, Side's platform saves agents an average of 62 days of time per year, and these agents see a 45 percent year-over-year growth rate, with some experiencing growth greater than 120 percent. Founded in January 2017, Side now empowers over 100 of the nation's top producing teams and is on track to facilitate over $8 billion in annual home sales in 2020.

SOURCE Side

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