Linear, a Finnish startup focusing on the digitalization of real estate brokerage, has closed €1.1 million in seed funding. The round was led by Innovestor Ventures, joined by institutional and private investors as well as the company’s previous backer, Superhero Capital. Linear will use the latest funding round on future growth and expansion to new markets.
Linear Oy, founded in 2018, offers a digital ecosystem that is driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning to facilitate the housing trade. The services benefit both private sellers and professional realtors.
Linear offers realtors a comprehensive SaaS (Software as a Service) automation tool for managing the sales process and acquiring new customers. Furthermore, realtors have access to a wide range of digital marketing tools, such as virtual apartment tours and virtual interior designs. Realtors can use Linear to minimize the amount of manual work, allowing them to focus solely on the sales process. This increases the annual sales capacity of realtors significantly.
To date, Linear has over 600 registered realtors as customers from the majority of Finland’s largest realtor agencies, including Remax, Kiinteistömaailma and Bo LKV.
For private home sellers, Linear provides an integrated platform (named Dixu) with all the necessary tools to sell homes independently. For a flat fee, private sellers get AI-driven pricing suggestions, support in preparing legal documents, marketing materials and a sample of the most efficient realtors in their own area, if they decide to turn to professional sales support.
The development of the real estate sector has recently focused heavily on digital services and concepts that facilitate the sale of a house listing without a realtor. Miro Eriksson, CEO at Linear, believes realtors will continue to play an important role in the real estate selling process.
“While many choose to sell their homes independently, from consumer to consumer, we think that realtors continue to have a solid position in the market – and we are happy to provide them with a new solution to make their job easier and more efficient. We are proud and humble to successfully close this investment round, giving us confidence to continue developing our products and services”, Eriksson says.
“We were able to quickly build conviction around Linear’s ambitious team and their vision for applying tech to develop the home selling market. Moreover, in this market, we believe the Human+Machine approach will be a successful formula. Over a short period of time, the company has validated its offering and is now ready to scale”, says Innovestor’s Wilhelm Lindholm.
This was Superhero Capital’s follow-on investment into the company, as the Helsinki-based venture capital firm made their initial investment in Linear’s pre-seed round in 2019.
Although Linear’s platform was launched in 2019, the startup has shown strong growth as their revenue has increased by 14 percent month-over-month during the first half of 2020.
In the media
Suomalainen asuntokaupan nettiapuri keräsi 1,1 miljoonan euron rahoituksen – Idea keksittiin pankissa: ”Olemme myöntäneet miljoonien edestä lainoja ja huomasimme ongelmia” (Talouselämä)
Finnish startup Linear raises €1 million to digitalise real estate but keep realtors in the game (Tech.eu)
Contact
Miro Eriksson
CEO, Linear
miro(a)linear.fi
+358 44 5801656
Wilhelm Lindholm
Managing Partner, Innovestor Ltd
wilhelm.lindholm(a)innovestor.fi
+358 40 5811051
About Linear
Founded in 2018, Linear connects realtors, private sellers and buyers to the same platform, offering all parties new digital features for buying and selling homes. The goal of Linear’s goal is to provide a better experience for all parties involved in selling a listing. Linear employs 15 people and provides high-quality digital services worldwide to companies working in the real estate and interior design industry.
About Innovestor
Innovestor is a Nordic early-stage venture capital investor, who also operates as a direct co-investment syndicator and growth program builder. Currently the firm manages one of the largest private venture-backed portfolios in the Nordics, consisting of over 100 high-tech companies in multiple fields of technology. Their aim is to be the best home for future new Nordic success stories. At its core, they boost the success and growth of portfolio companies by giving access to capital, know-how, and networks by utilizing their unique ecosystem of co-investors and partners.
Image credit to Linear