Utah-based proptech homie laid off a third of its staff, according to reports.
Hunter Richardson, former director of talent anddvisory and acquisition at Homie, posted on LinkedIn that he was among a third of those affected, but declined to comment on his firing.
Homie was founded in 2015 and, according to its CEO and co-founder Johnny Hanna’s LinkedIn page, most recently employed “over 270 people.” The company’s LinkedIn page shows 311 employees. PitchBook indicates 315 employees in 2021. Doing the math – if a third of the staff were laid off, that could be 90 to 105 people affected.
Homie was one of many proptechs that started out as an online brokerage aimed at helping home buyers and sellers navigate the buying and selling process. became known for eliminating traditional closing costs, 6% real estate fees and the arduous paperwork associated with selling traditional homes. Over time, in an effort to be a one stop shop, Homie expanded to provide home loan, insurance and securities services.
On its LinkedIn page, the company said:
Today, we made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our company based on the impacts of changes in the real estate market. It was the hardest decision we ever had to make. Each and every one of these talented individuals is not just our co-workers; they are our friends. Those affected are some of the most skilled, committed and incredible professionals and people. Your contributions have shaped Homie’s culture and products and enabled us to help thousands of customers across multiple markets. We’re doing everything possible to support each bro as they transition into the next chapter of their careers.
This reduction will not affect our ability to serve our customers in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Idaho. The limited stock of real estate has also created a challenging real estate market for homebuyers; raising prices and making home ownership less and less affordable. We are now focusing on helping to solve this problem by making home ownership possible for more people. Those leaving today helped build the products to make this a reality. They will be sorely missed.
As of March 2021, Deseret News reported that Homie was looking to hire 1,000″new buy-side real estate agents in all their markets” by the end of the year. At the time, it operated in five states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.
According to Crunchbase, Homie has raised a total of $35.1 million in venture capital since its inception. In February 2020, Ploonge reported that there were raised $23 million in a Series B funding round after seeing 150% growth in the previous year. Its press release on the matter did not include any mention of participating investors.
The company is another example of how the real estate tech startup community has been hit by the recent changes in the industry landscape. When interest rates were at historic lows, business was booming and hiring left and right. But now that interest rates are higher and refinancing has slowed and inventory shortages are rife, companies in space are clearly taking a hit.
At the time of writing, Homie had not responded to our requests for comment. This is a developing story.
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