Seattle realty startup JetClosing announced a $20M Series A funding round on Friday, sending property paperwork another step closer to the realm of dodos and dinosaurs.
Global asset management firm T. Rowe Price lead the round with participation from several Puget Sound region firms, including Woodinville’s Imagen Capital Partners, Seattle’s Maveron, Bellevue’s Trilogy Equity Partners and Pioneer Square Labs’ PSL Ventures. The company was founded at Seattle’s Pioneer Square Labs incubator in 2016.
Trilogy lead the startup’s seed and venture rounds in 2016 and 2017 respectively, which clocked in at a collective $4.3 million.
JetClosing co-founder and CEO Daniel Greenshields said he was “thrilled” at T. Rowe Price’s involvement.
“Their investment is a testament to the present inadequacy of the title and escrow experience, and confidence in JetClosing changing the process in which we win at home buying,” he said in a statement.
By digitizing mountains of paperwork involved in closing a property sale, JetClosing aims to simplify the often complex and opaque process of selling homes. The company allows most paperwork to be signed electronically, doing away with the subsequent diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome which traditionally accompanies real estate transactions.
The company also provides “dedicated closing coordinators” to guide property sellers and buyers through the closing process, and says they can issue the proceeds of a sale (and an agent’s commission) within an hour of closing. Real estate agents can personalize the app — and their buyers’ experience — to reflect their work habits, and buyers can track progress through notifications. JetClosing claims that its service is cheaper than other escrow providers, charging a flat $500 fee per sale.
The startup’s services are currently available to realtors and buyers in Seattle, Tacoma, Las Vegas and Phoenix, and the Series A funds will help the company expand into residential real estate markets across the country.
Henry Ellenbogen, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price’s New Horizons Fund, said he expected big things from the startup.
“The firm is in its early stage of growth,” he said in the statement, “and we believe it can be a much larger company as it expands its product suite and geographic footprint.”
