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San Francisco-based real estate brokerage Side<\/strong> announced Monday that they raised $150 million, ushering in a new phase for the four-year-old company.<\/p>\n Coatue<\/strong> Management<\/strong>, a New York City-based investment manager, led the venture capital fundraising round. Prior to the $150 million raise, Side reported raising just $63 million from outside investors, the majority of which came from a funding round led by Sapphire Ventures<\/strong>, according to Crunchbase<\/a>.<\/p>\n Side<\/a>, which now claims a $1 billion-plus valuation, will use the cash to \u201csupport significant hiring\u201d and \u201caccelerate the company\u2019s national expansion efforts beyond its three operating markets of California, Texas, and Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n Side is a \u201cwhite-label\u201d business model that provides the tech, marketing, and administrative resources (but not office space) for top-producing agents to start teams that feature distinctive brands.<\/p>\n For example, top Beverly Hills luxury producer Ben Bacal started the brand \u201cRevel Real Estate\u201d under the Side brokerage. Bacal and his team members, like all Side agents, keep 90 % of each sales commission, with 10 % heading toward the brokerage.<\/p>\n How to Diversify Your Brokerage to Weather Economic Hardship<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Diversification is one approach brokerages can adopt to help ensure stability in unavoidable times of uncertainty, work to protect their revenue and \u2013 ultimately \u2013 financially weatherproof their business.<\/p>\n All brokerages claim to feature quality agents, but Side goes a couple of steps further.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s motto is \u201cNot all agents, only the best.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview last year, Side CEO Guy Gal said<\/a> many agents are \u201chucksters and charlatans\u201d and, \u201cNine out of ten agents shouldn\u2019t be licensed, let alone actually doing transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Gal also expressed regret at the time about his past business ventures (namely the video content producer Kingmaker) raising money too fast without a clear plan in mind. He said Side had \u201cno rush to expand\u201d to other high-end markets like New York.<\/p>\n Messages left with Gal on Monday were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n In a press release announcing the fund raise, Gal doubled down on Side\u2019s \u201conly the best\u201d message, stating, \u201cThe incentives between brokerages and top agents are misaligned. Existing brokerages are designed to support average agents.\u201d<\/p>\n The post White-label brokerage Side achieves unicorn status<\/a> appeared first on HousingWire<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nPresented by: Motto Mortgage<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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