Knock, a real estate startup and self-described ‘home trade-in’ platform, raised a $400m Series B to expand its service across the US.
The massive round of funding mirrors other huge investments in real estate tech. Last year, competitors Compass and Opendoor both separately raised the exact same amount: $400m.
So, how does a ‘home trade-in’ work, exactly?
The company helps customers find new homes and then buys them outright in cash (often at a discount), allowing customers to move into new homes without months of double-paying and keeping their houses clean for showings.
Once customers move, Knock helps sell the old houses by “aggressively using MLS, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Facebook, Google, yard-signs and many other sites to get you the most offers and best offer in the shortest period of time” (according to its website).
Knock makes its money the same way a normal real estate agent would, by charging a 3% commission from both the buyers and the sellers of the old houses.
Things are gettin’ real in the real estate market
Knock is far from the only company trying to update the real estate industry: Last year, investors pumped $4.65B into a record 351 real estate tech startups.
But despite its funding, Knock still faces some real competition: Opendoor and Compass both raised rounds from SoftBank’s Vision Fund at valuations of $2B+ and $4.4B, respectively.