Settled, which was set up in 2015 and earlier this year announced it was hunting for an additional £1m in funding, has succeeded in its bid - with the final cash injection coming from a Silicon Valley firm.
Settled has already won financial backing from Thomas Teichman, the first investor in notonthehighstreet.com, lastminute.com and made.com; now its latest fund-raising has attracted 500 Startups, a so-called accelerator company based in California and founded by a former marketing director for PayPal.
“We’re offering owners complete transparency and empowering them to both list and sell their property quicker than bricks and mortar agents – and save an average of £5,000 in the process. This latest funding will support our plans to reinvent the way we buy and sell homes” says Gemma Young, co-founder and chief executive of Settled.
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Fair play. Whatever you think of online agencies or their long-term viability, they certainly know how to attract investment.
Clearly, many high-worth investors see them as the future. I, like many others, don't necessarily agree with that - hybrid agencies, as is increasingly the case with major agencies, will be the way forward - but it would be complacent to say the online market is having no effect whatsoever.
If you look closely, a lot of the media noise and comments coming from Settled pretty much claim it not to be an 'estate agent' but something closer to an FBSO site. So why then when you go on their site is it clear that they're an online agent, listing on Rightmove and Zoopla? I wish firms would stop trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public.
Agree - more lower cost models are coming. houseSimple claims £499 and now Settled £299. The next will be £199 nd downwards to £99 for FSBO/DIY other than the listing part on RM & Z.
In the coming 2 years we'll likely see 2000-4000 such operatives listing 10% to 20% of all houses on main portals.
So Settled's VCs are either brave or foolish as other cheaper entrants come in.
As more DIY low cost list models enter. The saving part is that there will be a new growth in buyer representative agents to negotiate a lowest buy price. likely saving buyers far more than vendors listing low cost will save.
Were be moving to a more buyer and seller represented market place where DIY listers will be screwed over by strong negotiators representing buyers.
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