PLACE Inc., a startup that provides software products and business services for real-estate brokerages, has raised $100 million in fresh funding at a $1 billion valuation.

Bellingham, Washington-based PLACE announced the Series A funding round this morning. Goldman Sachs Asset Management led the investment with participation from 3L Capital.

PLACE provides software that helps real-estate brokerages operate more efficiently. One of the main highlights of the startup’s software portfolio is a customer relationship management platform built specifically for companies in the real-estate industry. Brokerages can use the platform to manage the business data they generate as part of their sales efforts and coordinate deal-making activities, PLACE says. 

The startup also helps real-estate agents with marketing. PLACE’s feature set includes a tool that can automatically generate digital ads for new real-estate listings. Complementary graphic design capabilities allow brokerages to create additional marketing materials, such as flyers, from pre-packaged design elements that are accessible through a drag-and-drop editor.

PLACE provides its technology tools together with an array of business services. The startup helps real-estate brokerages with accounting, legal and human resources tasks, as well as employee training. On the go-to-market side, PLACE provides customer acquisition services.

PLACE claims that its suite of technology products and business services can help real-estate brokerages operate more efficiently than they could by managing every task in-house. The startup says that the increased operational efficiency facilitated by its offerings translates into improved employee productivity and higher sales.

Using the newly closed $100 million funding round, PLACE will hire more employees to support its growth plans. The startup intends to enhance its technology portfolio by adding more products for real-estate brokerages and, in conjunction, will enhance its line of business services. 

“This Goldman Sachs-led round of financing will allow for the continued expansion of the PLACE platform as well as the services needed by agents and teams to stay ahead of the ever-changing demands of the real estate consumer,” said PLACE co-founder Chris Suarez.

The startup can likely also be expected to expand into more markets. PLACE says it already works with real-estate brokerages in more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada,  a notable feat given that the startup only launched in 2019. 

PLACE is the latest in a series of real-estate startups to have raised funding recently. HomeLight Inc., which helps home sellers find real-estate agents, closed a $100 million investment a few months ago. Side Inc., a startup with a suite of services designed to ease agents’ day-to-day work and help them acquire more customers, earlier raised a $50 million funding round.

Construction startups have also been drawing investor interest lately. ICON Build Inc. raised $207 million in August to hire more employees and enhance its Vulcan robotic construction system, which uses 3D printing to manufacture buildings. 

Image: PLACE