Startups that cater to homebuyers are struggling as interest rates and inflation have risen and inventory shortages continue in many markets.
The latest victim in space is Reali, who has announced that he started a stop and will lay off most of its workforce on September 9.
In a Press releasevsCo-founder and chairman Amit Haller said “challenging real estate and financial market conditions and an unfavorable capital raising environment” led to the decision to end operations.
“Reali was one of the pioneering companies to offer the ‘buy before you sell’ and ‘cash offer’ programs to homeowners,” he said in the statement. “We deeply believed in putting the consumer first and foremost in every transaction.”
Amit Haller and Ami Avrahami founded Reali in Israel in 2016 out of personal frustration as real estate investors with the quality of service provided by agents and the high commissions they paid.
Their goal was to make “the process of buying and selling real estate more transparent, honest and professional”.
The startup touted that customers could buy and sell in one coordinated transaction, “eliminating resale risk, moving twice, and paying two mortgages at once.”
Since its inception, the company has raised more than $290 million in debt and equity financing, according to Crunchbase. His last raise was a $100 million Series B in August 2021 led by Zeev Ventures with participation from Akkadian Ventures, Signia Ventures and others. At the time of this increase, the company was would have 180 employees, according to CTECH by Calcalist. The same publication reported this week that Reali had 140 employees.
In its press release, Reali said that “a small team of employees” would continue to support active real estate transactions until the end of the year.
The company added that it is in talks with companies that have expressed interest in buying parts of its business, including mortgage origination, title and escrow and power buying.
Haller and Avrahami also founded another startup, Veev, ara real estate developer turned homebuilder with the technology that in March raised $400 million in a Series D round which propelled the company to “unicorn status”.
Reali is not alone in his challenges. Return recently laid off 20% of its workforce. And better.comwhich had a host of other problems, laid off thousands of people this year.
