Tomo Secures Big Bucks in New Funding Round

In one of the biggest funding rounds in proptech history, home buying fintech platform, Tomo, has acquired $70 million in capital as part of a seed round. 

Tomo will use this capital to further its commitment to bringing buyers a better way to purchase a home. The company is going to focus on regions where real estate prices and competition are making buying a new home an extreme challenge for first-time homeowners and millennials. 

Tomo CEO and Co-founder Greg Schwartz stated:

“In today’s housing market, buying is not an enjoyable experience; it has become competitive, stressful, and confusing, and too many people are coming away from it empty-handed. As single-family homes become commoditized by investors, the American dream is moving further and further out of reach. We are going to change that. We will work only with buyers, we won’t do refinancings, and we will close on-time, every time. No one else in this space can say that and mean it.”

Tomo’s proprietary technology services support pre-approvals within hours instead of consumers waiting business days for the same services. Tomo promises on-time closings which give buyers confidence and a stronger position in the market. 

The company also has a brokerage arm called Tomo Brokerage, which connects buyers with leading local agents who are more familiar with the markets they work in. This allows for buyers to feel confident that they are getting the best service possible. Working on building this network across its markets, Tomo is working with Tom Ferry, a leading coaching and training firm within the real estate industry, in order to further expand its brokerage services. 

The company is headed by ex-Zillow execs Greg Schwartz and Carey Armstrong who started the company just eight months ago, adding to the growing number of companies started by former Zillow big shots. Zillow has a knack for its former employees spinning off to start their own endeavors in numerous ways. Pacaso, another real estate startup (but focused on second-home buyers), was started by Zillow co-founder and ex-CEO Spencer Rascoff. 

Zillow has enough fingers in Tomo’s pie as well, not only was it started by former Zillow executives as well but one of the participants in this recent funding round is headed by the founder of Trulia, one of Zillow’s rental channels, Pete Flint. The round itself was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from DST Global, NFX, and Zigg Capital. 

Last October, Tomo raised $40 million, adding to its treasure trove of capital that will go towards its goal to help first-time buyers get a leg up on the competition.