Prevu, a customer-focused digital homebuying platform, announced recently that it raised $2 million in seed funding in September.
According to Prevu, the funding was led by Corigin Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on real estate technology and consumer industries.
The company claims that its “Smart Buyer” platform offers homebuyers an easier approach to homebuying, giving them the tools and advice they need to guide them through the early phases of the process.
Prevu’s agents answer questions along the way and step in during the last mile, assisting buyers to schedule a tour, make an offer, negotiate a purchase and close on a transaction, all through Prevu’s platform. Prevu then passes two-thirds of its commission back to each buyer who completes a purchase on the platform, delivering a rebate of up to 2%.
New York City buyers can receive rebates averaging $23,000 using Prevu’s Smart Buyer Platform.
“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,” Thomas Kutzman, co-founder of Prevu, said. “Buyers no longer need to rely on agents as the gatekeepers of information, which is available at their fingertips online.”
Corigin Ventures has prior successful investments including Compass, Transfix, Latch, ClassPass and Wheels Up.
Kairos and AVG Basecamp Fund also contributed to the seed round.
“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,” Kutzman said. “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.”