Upfront, a new real estate finance platform, today announced it has raised $1.5 million in equity and $1 million in debt funding to revolutionize broker-agent financing. The round, led by Diagram Ventures with participation from ROC Venture Group, enables Upfront to officially launch and provide exclusive financial solutions to help brokerages attract, retain, and empower top-performing agents.
Agents face many costs and fees, with commission payouts taking up to 3 months. This places an undue financial burden on the agent in the home transaction, who’s often forced to leverage costly credit products when they need funds to support their business. Upfront aims to easily and fairly provide early access to these earned commission dollars, reducing wait time and costs by up to 66% while empowering agents with vital new tools to build their financial health. The company’s unique model includes partnering with brokerages to drive down fees for agents and offer greater transparency, with no credit score impact.
“Payday loans and credit cards exploit financial needs by trapping agents in a debt cycle with high interest rates. At a time when the real estate industry is facing big commission pressure and sales volume is at a historic low, we saw an opportunity to create real estate-native financial products that truly serve their users,” explained Upfront co-founder and CEO Mukund Venkatakrishnan.
“It’s expensive to be a real estate agent, and it’s time to bet on the critical role agents play in the home transaction process. Upfront believes in the critical services agents provide, and we will empower them to reinvest in their business and financial well-being,” added Upfront’s co-founder and COO Pierre Calzadilla.
Mukund Venkatakrishnan, a two-time entrepreneur, launched Harvard’s first cryptocurrency conference as well as a real estate brokerage while a student there. Pierre Calzadilla, a four-time revenue builder, is a former broker and 16-year veteran of the proptech industry. He has built and scaled revenue and growth teams at Trulia, RealScout and Local Logic.
François Lafortune, co-founder and CEO of Diagram, also commented on the funding: “Diagram is excited to support the Upfront team on their mission to provide better financial products to the real estate broker community. We think there is a huge opportunity to better serve this massive market with new and innovative technology.”
“Upfront’s value proposition and business model align with our belief that innovative, tech-driven platforms that create win-win situations for all stakeholders lead to strong returns in any industry,” said ROC Venture Group Partner Dave Comiskey. “The market is ripe for innovation that truly impacts the bottom line, and we look forward to working with Muk and Pierre to set a new standard in transaction optimization that aligns incentives and drives value for brokerages and agents alike.”
Upfront was also included in Equity Angels’ first accelerator cohort and will be featured at Blueprint, the proptech industry’s largest global conference.