CHARLOTTE – Ribbon, a real estate technology startup launched in Charlotte, today announced it has raised $225 million to expand to 10 new markets by the end of 2019.  It’s already operating in Cary.

The funding came from notable investors Bain Capital Ventures, Greylock, NFX, and NYCA, all of whom had previously invested in the company.

The company joins other real estate firms Knock, Opendoor, and Zillow that have announced and opened a Triangle presence in 2018.  All offer non-traditional approaches to buying and selling homes.

Ribbon says the funding will allow the company to enable more than $2 billion in real estate transactions in 2019.

The company backs homebuyers and their Realtors with a “Ribbon Offer,” an all-cash offer that is guaranteed to close, removing one of the largest barriers sellers use to evaluate which buyer offer to accept, the mortgage approval contingency.

Ribbon

“We were able to close on our house on time with Ribbon. Their fully approved cash offer in hand gave us the buying power we needed to beat out other buyers,” said Jason Lottman, a new Charlotte homeowner who recently had a Ribbon Offer accepted and closed the deal with Ribbon.  “They bring buying power to the common family.”
An offer to purchase in a real estate transaction often comes with contingencies: financing approval, appraisal, prior home sale, and others.  The company is betting that a Ribbon Offer gives buyers and their Realtors an advantage in negotiating an offer as well as an advantage in standing out from other buyers in a hot real estate market, like Charlotte or the Triangle.

Ribbon launches in Cary

Ribbon is already operating in Charlotte, where the company is headquartered, just one of the many growth-stage technology companies that have begun to attract notable investment in 2018, resulting in the Queen City being named the #1 tech town in the country.  But the market is equally hot in Cary and Asheville, both cities where Ribbon recently expanded their operations.

“The current homebuying process is an intimidating and stressful experience,” said Shaival Shah, CEO of Ribbon.  “We solve this problem by buying and reserving a home for a family, so they can secure their mortgage in peace without the risk of losing the home they love.

Other real estate startups may seek to remove Realtors from the transaction in order to improve operating margin, however, Ribbon partners with Realtors and buyers, said the company.  To assist in brokering more successful homebuying, the company is also releasing several new product offerings, including personalized home valuations and an iOS mobile application for Realtors with an Android application soon to be released.

One key aspect of the company’s value proposition is that Ribbon is free for buyers to use.  “Sellers prefer to receive Ribbon Offers due to the certainty of its guaranteed close, ” said the company in a statement, “and they pay the Ribbon fee at closing on behalf of buyers.”

Ribbon was started by a group described as passionate technologists, consumer-centric innovators and real estate experts.  The team has built market-leading companies with key roles at LendingClub, Airbnb, Spotify, Twitter, and Blue Apron, as well as having the combined experience of overseeing the purchase and sale of over 20,000 homes throughout their careers.