Top Real Estate Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

My Background

Hi, I'm Kieran! I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder. Some of my favorite things that I've worked on during my career include:

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Wefunder Workaway: 12 founders working on a new idea, 7 days, 1 mansion in Hawaii. One of the teams we picked raised a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, and two people who met during the trip got married...

On Deck: As employee #15, I contributed to the startup's growth from no revenue to a $20 million run rate in less than a year. I led the team that built the admission infrastructure to support and scale ~20 fellowships for founders, capital allocators, operators, and creators.

XX: Worked on a pre-YC accelerator program that invested $125K on an MFN SAFE into 8-10 teams per cohort.

ODX: Worked on a $100 million accelerator program that invested $125K for 7% into 100s of startups. We partnered with leaders like Flexport to build vertical industry tracks around supply chain & logistics, etc.

Ryan Marketing: Created an influencer marketing startup (2 million+ Instagram followers) during college with my twin brother and realized early that monetization for creators was broken. I learned a lot, and it paid enough to cover my schooling, rent, and meals.

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The Methodology

I considered several data points to arrive at the startups selected on this list, including company traction, funding raised, valuation, and investors. From my initial list, I then referenced each startup with my personal network to narrow down the list to the one you see below. I take my credibility seriously, so I do not take any money from startups who want to be included on this list to remain impartial. If you want to understand my analysis of startups and prefer long-form content, read my research on the top startups of 2023 afterward.

Tomo

The mortgage that changes everything.

Headquarters

Stamford, Connecticut

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2020

Funding

$110 million

Valuation

$640 million

Traction

As of June 2023, Tomo claims customers close on-time 98% of the time compared to the industry average of 40%.

As of June 2023, Tomo has helped 2,800 customers buy homes with its mortgage products with an average savings of $2,000 with $0 lender fees.

As of June 2023, Tomo has rated 5/5 stars from 62 reviews on Zillow.

Full Profile

QuintoAndar

Housing platform in Latin America.

Headquarters

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2012

Funding

$755.3 million

Valuation

$5.1 billion

Traction

As of May 2023, 450,000 visits are scheduled through the platform monthly, and it has ~26 million in assets under management.

As of August 2021, QuintoAndar has 120,000 rental units under management and sees more than 10,000 sales in annualized terms.

Full Profile

Point

Home equity platform.

Headquarters

Palo Alto, California

Industry

Real Estate, Fintech

Founded

2015

Funding

$175 million+

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In 2021, Point surpassed $1 billion in capital commitments from financial institutions buying the Home Equity Investments product.

As of May 2023, Point has helped 10,000+ homeowners.

Full Profile

Juniper Square

Creating new opportunities for GPs and LPs in the private capital markets.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Fintech, Real Estate

Founded

2014

Funding

$241 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In 2022, Juniper Square reported a 4x growth in assets under management and a 2.5x growth in its customer base.

As of May 2023, Juniper Square has 1,800 GPs, 500,000 investor accounts, 32,000 investment entities managed, and $700 billion in investor equity.

Full Profile

Jetty

Financial services for renters.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Real Estate, Fintech

Founded

2015

Funding

$63.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of September 2021, Jetty has seen an average of 193% YoY growth in contracted units since launching in 2017.

As of September 2021, Jetty has agreements with property owners and managers with 2.2 million rental units.

Full Profile

Habito

Home buying made easy.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Real Estate, Fintech

Founded

2016

Funding

$88 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In 2020, Habito surpassed 4 billion euros in mortgages, up from 2 billion euros in 2019, 1 billion euros in 2018, and 361 million euros in 2017.

As of May 2023, Habito has a 4.8/5 rating from 8,027 reviews on Trustpilot.

Full Profile

Alude

Buying and leasing real-estate platform.

Headquarters

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2019

Funding

$3.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of September 2020, Alude had 150 brokers using its platform.

As of May 2023, Alude has 20,000 real estate agents using its platform.

Full Profile

Pinhome

Real estate platform.

Headquarters

Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2020

Funding

$75.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of May 2023, Pinhome reports 11,000 agents on its platform and 500,000+ property listings.

Full Profile

Zefir

Sell and buy real estate without limits.

Headquarters

Paris, Ile-de-France, France

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2020

Funding

24 million euros

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In 2021, Zefir’s transaction volume (GMV) was 200 million euros.

As of May 2023, Zefir has a 4.3/5 star rating from 203 reviews on TrustPilot.

As of May 2023, 500+ homes have been sold on the platform, and 15,000+ estimates have been sent.

Full Profile

White big "A" next to little "a" on purple background

Aalto

Homes you won’t find anywhere else.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2018

Funding

$17.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of August 2021, Aalto had 30,000 buyers signed up and had sold more than 12 homes on the platform.

As of May 2023, Aalto has 163 homes in San Francisco on its platform.

Full Profile

Snapdocs

The #1 e-closing platform for mortgages.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2012

Funding

$253 million

Valuation

$1.5 billion+

Traction

Average efficiencies for Snapdocs eClose customers are $290 saved per loan, four day reduction in dwell time, an 80% reduction in closing errors, and 98% settle opt-in.

As of May 2023, Snapdocs helps close more than 20% of all US mortgages.

Full Profile

Kindred

Trusted home swapping & exchange community.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Marketplace, Real Estate, Travel

Founded

2021

Funding

$22.8 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Kindred has received 20,000+ membership applications since launching in 2021.

Kindred members have spent over 5,000 nights at one another’s homes.

Full Profile

Wander

Find your happy place.

Headquarters

Austin, Texas

Industry

Travel

Founded

2021

Funding

$32 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In July 2023, Wander crossed 5,000 nights booked on the platform.

In October 2022, Wander crossed 100,000 registered accounts on its platform.

As of March 2023, Wander has 15 properties across the United States.

Since launching its first property in February 2022, Wander customers have booked 2,000+ nights with a 94.6% satisfaction rating.

Full Profile

Divvy Homes

Rent-to-own your dream home.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2017

Funding

$465 million

Valuation

$2 billion

Traction

Between January 2020 and August 2021, Divvy Homes’ market share doubled.

As of August 2021, more than 25,000 real estate agents work with Divvy Homes, an increase of 3x over the past year.

Between February 2021 and August 2021, Divvy Homes’ cumulative qualified applicants and monthly home closes increased by over 3x.

As of August 2021, Divvy Homes operates in 16 markets.

Full Profile

Belong

Making long-term renting magical for homeowners and residents.

Headquarters

Miami, Florida

Industry

Real Estate, Consumer

Founded

2018

Funding

$138 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, 1,932 homeowners use Belong.

As of June 2023, Belong is operational in California, Florida, and Washington.

As of May 2022, Belong has 7,000 renters on its platform.

Full Profile

Flock Homes

Seamlessly convert your individual rental property into fully passive, diversified shares in a pool of houses.

Headquarters

Denver, Colorado

Industry

Real Estate

Founded

2020

Funding

$26 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Flock Homes’ portfolio performance includes a $94.2 million total portfolio value, $1.4 million distributions paid ITD (inception to date), 7.7% gross yield, 19.9% ITD performance, and 500% YoY growth.