This Bellingham company receives $100 million in funding to expand, add jobs
A Bellingham company has received funding that could lead to more jobs and a significant expansion.
PLACE, which offers software to help the back-end part of real estate brokerages, announced on Wednesday, Nov. 17, that it has raised $100 million in a Series A round. The venture capital financing was led by the growth equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and with participation from 3L Capital. The funding will support the expansion of the company, including investment in the company’s technology.
The real estate technology company was co-founded by Ben Kinney, a familiar name in the Bellingham real estate community. Kinney operates a variety of businesses through Ben Kinney Companies, including a team of agents associated with Keller Williams. Kinney’s businesses have offices in the Barkley district, as well as downtown Bellingham.
PLACE was founded in Bellingham and was an evolution of several Kinney companies, including Brivity. In an email, Kinney said they have around 300 employees, with more than half working in Whatcom County.
Kinney said growing and supporting the Whatcom County community is a driving motivator for him personally. With this infusion of capital, the plan is to grow the business to 1,000 employees in the next 12-18 months. The jobs are office positions, including engineers, designers, marketers, sales and accounting.
“The majority of these will be based in Whatcom County, providing opportunities for those who live here while also attracting new citizens to the community we love,” Kinney said.
Along with adding workers, the financing is also expected to pave the way for other acquisitions that are already in the pipeline, Kinney said.
“We hope to continue to relocate more great companies to the Pacific Northwest,” Kinney said.
The product
In explaining the PLACE software that is getting the attention of investors, Kinney said it does two main things: It helps real estate professionals eliminate up to 75% of their daily tasks so they can focus more on buying and selling homes. For consumers, it provides what they need in one place through an app, which leads to significant savings.
“Imagine the Amazon app of the home. We believe this can be built for the world and be built in Whatcom County. Everything you need for your home all in one PLACE,” Kinney said.
Some of the software functions include administrative support, marketing and branding, lead generation, accounting, legal, human resources, back-office infrastructure, and training. According to the company, it currently operates in more than 100 markets in the U.S. and Canada.
That concept appears to have helped attract investors.
“We were attracted to PLACE by its battle-tested technology and leadership team that has dedicated their careers toward helping high-performing agents and teams succeed,” said Paul Pate, vice president, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in a news release. “Ultimately, the performance of PLACE’s operators speaks for itself.”
Details about the company can be found at place.com.
