Knock Is First Real Estate Tech Company to Allow Its Partners and Customers to Invest Alongside Its Venture Capital Investors

Buy Before You Sell pioneer allocates $5 million of a $15 million financing to a crowdfunding campaign to empower individuals to get ownership and upside in a company they use

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Knock, the real estate technology company that has helped thousands of homeowners buy before they sell, today announced that it has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder – a public platform that allows individuals to invest in brands they use everyday and love long before the companies become public or get acquired. The funding round is being co-led by Second Century Ventures, the venture capital arm of the National Association of REALTORS®, and Foundry Venture Capital.

"We founded Knock to democratize the home selling experience," Knock Co-Founder and CEO Sean Black said. "We want to further democratize our business by giving our partner agents, loan officers and customers the opportunity to invest in Knock before a potential IPO or acquisition. Through this Wefunder campaign, which we believe is the first of its kind in the real estate space, our stakeholders are able to share in the upside of a company they use every day."

Black said that Wefunder provides an opportunity that wasn't available when he and Knock Co-Founder Jamie Glenn were on the founding team at Trulia, which went public on the NYSE and was acquired by Zillion for $3.5 billion. Individuals were unable to invest in these companies until they went public and were already valued in the billions of dollars.

Of the $15 million capital raise, over $10 million has been funded by Second Century Ventures, Foundry Venture Capital and other professional investors, and $5 million has been reserved for individuals through this campaign. Through Wefunder, individuals can invest as little as $100, making it accessible for anyone to become a shareholder in Knock as a private company. In conjunction with this round, Knock has also secured over $125 million in new revolving lines of credit to fund Knock Bridge Loans for years to come.

Knock has successfully navigated the last two years of high interest rates and a lack of housing inventory that pressured the entire real estate industry and forced many tech companies out of business. Knock used the down market to adapt its business model to fill a much needed gap in the industry. The result is the Knock Bridge Loan™, an on-demand financing solution to help lenders and agents provide clients more convenience and certainty and to make them more competitive home buyers.

"We're not only proud that we pushed through, but that we leveraged the market downturn to offer our proprietary Buy Before You Sell solution to all lenders or agents to make their clients more competitive when it comes to buying their dream home," Black said. "The competitive landscape has been all but eliminated, and we are excited about our growth trajectory."

With the Knock Bridge Loan, homeowners are able to tap into the equity in their current house to purchase their new home before listing their old one, alleviating the need to live through repairs and showings and ensuring the highest sale price on the open market. Homebuyers can use the Knock Bridge Loan to make a down payment on a new home, pay down debt, cover repairs and moving costs, making them more competitive, non-contingent buyers. Today, Knock partners with thousands of loan officers and tens of thousands of real estate agents to bring its innovative bridge loan to consumers in 75 markets throughout the U.S.

Launched in 2015, Knock has raised $136 million in equity financing from top-tier investors, including Second Century Ventures, Foundry Venture Capital, RRE Ventures, First American Financial (aka Parker89), Redpoint, Greycroft, Corazon Capital, Correlation Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital and FJ Labs.

"I have served on the board of Knock since 2019 and remain convinced that they are tapping into an incredible unmet need in the residential real estate space. The total addressable market for the company is very large and the Knock Bridge Loan just makes sense," said Yelp Chief Operating Officer Jed Nachman, Knock investor who is the syndicate lead of the Wefunder campaign.

To learn more about Knock and its equity raise, please visit: https://wefunder.com/knock

About Knock

Knock is on a mission to empower people to move freely. The Knock Bridge Loan™ makes it easy for consumers to buy their new home before selling their current one. Knock partners with loan officers and real estate agents across 75 markets to streamline the home buying and selling journey for their clients, offering them enhanced convenience, certainty, and competitiveness.

Media Contact

Stacey Arenson, Knock, 1 315 254 8446, [email protected], https://www.knock.com/

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SOURCE Knock