Find out which real estate tech companies made this 26-year-old ranking list, designed to recognize what it takes to be an industry disruptor
BY CRAIG C. ROWE – Inman
Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, a 26-year-old recognition of growth in the technology sector across all business categories, has named several real estate technology companies to its annual list.
The global financial consulting company states that its list “was created to recognize the passion and dedication it takes to be an industry disruptor.”
Companies have to submit themselves for consideration, and then Deloitte researches them and chooses winners according to the percentage of fiscal-year growth over a three-year period.
Inman’s research found 10 companies on Deloitte’s list common to most real estate agents.
Homie
Homie is a brokerage that lets buyers and sellers find a local agent on its website, and receive a number of technology-empowered discounted services as they go.
The South Jordan, Utah company has grown at an impressive rate of 8,646 percent, making it the highest real estate tech on the list at No. 25. Earlier in 2020, Homie closed on $23 million in Series B funding. It currently does business in Utah, Nevada and Arizona.
Landing at the second-highest rank among them was OJO Labs at No. 29. The “artificial intelligence” and personal assistant startup has several products to automate real estate consumer search practices. In October of 2020, OJO Labs acquired fintech startup, Digs.
Groundfloor
Atlanta-based Groundfloor, a platform for group and fractional investing in real estate financing, grew 1,142 percent to land at No. 102 on the list.
HomeLight
HomeLight offers consumers a solution for researching and ranking real estate agents. The San Francisco company found itself ranked No. 148 out of 500 on three-year growth of 808 percent, according to Deloitte.
Homesnap
At No. 11 5 is the mobile home-search app and lead generation tool Homesnap, which was acquired by commercial real estate data company CoStar Group. Announced Monday, this move puts it in direct competition with Zillow.
Search Realty Corp.
Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Search Realty Corp. has been growing consistently for many years. Billing itself as a “community-focused, future-facing real estate brokerage,” the independent brokerage has eight offices and stresses the use of technology and community involvement throughout its operation. It’s No. 345 on the list.
Zillow
Ever-evolving Zillow, which as of now remains the largest name in home search, came in at No. 418. It has benefited from millions of Americans taking to the popular portal as a coagulant for “doomscrolling,” a term that describes our obsession with wading through the gloomy morass of online news and social media.
With no shortage of doom-inducing stories to thumb through and a searing national real estate market, it’s no wonder Zillow has grown 224 percent in three years.
Redfin Corporation
Not far off from Zillow at No. 469 is low-fee brokerage Redfin, which Deloitte reports grew by 192 percent. With popular online search tools and respected industry data analysis services, Redfin has become a player for more than its 1 percent fees.
Redfin was accused of having price policies that favor white neighborhoods in a lawsuit earlier this month.
EOriginal
EOriginal continues to make waves as one of the most established software platforms for digitized home lending. Bolstered by the need for arm’s-length closings in light of the pandemic, the Baltimore company landed on Deloitte’s list at No. 473.
DocuSign, Inc.
Although not specific to only real estate, popular document automation tool DocuSign landed at No. 489 on the 2020 Fast 500 list. The San Francisco company continues to be the top electronic transaction software for real estate agents and consumers.
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
