Backflip, a Dallas-based real estate fintech company that caters to investors who renovate and flip properties, announced it has expanded into 41 new U.S. markets.
“We've experienced incredible growth since launching in Texas in 2021,” co-founder and CEO Josh Ernst said in a statement. “We're excited to expand our real estate technology and financial services nearly nationwide, ensuring every real estate entrepreneur has access to what they need to level up their business operations and contribute to a healthier housing market.”
Backflip said that from Alaska to Hawaii, new and experienced residential real estate investors can now use its data, technology and capital to make better real estate investment decisions and fund the rehabilitation of the country's 65 million dilapidated homes.
The company said it has experienced significant growth in its business, product and team, including a 300% increase in staff last year, against the backdrop of a 50% drop in the real estate market as a result of the Fed's interest rate hikes in 2022, making it the first seed-stage startup to complete the acquisition.
Aiming to solve the housing shortage
Backflip said it is on a mission to solve America's housing shortage and home affordability problems by providing real estate investors with everything they need to buy and renovate homes. The company said it is helping to increase the number of renovated, affordable homes available across the country and revitalize neighborhoods.
The company said membership continues to grow by more than 15% month-over-month, adding that as of May, members were using the Backflip app to analyze more than $2 billion in single-family home investments each month.
Backflip said this momentum has enabled it to spearhead an ambitious product roadmap, including introducing computer vision and machine learning capabilities that allow members to instantly analyze properties by simply pointing their phone camera, and launching innovative capital products such as buy now, pay later, flexible mezzanine loans and capitalized interest structures.
The company is also launching new proprietary features such as “My Leads” to make appraising properties easier, which will be available to members later this year.
Adding Executives
The company said recently that it has been able to attract top talent.
Leslie Jordan has joined Backflip as its first Chief Product Officer. Jordan, the former Chief Product Officer at Realtor.com, brings more than 20 years of product leadership and industry-specific expertise to Backflip.
Backflip said Jordan will be responsible for strategy and execution for the product, engineering and design teams, and will contribute to all user experience teams at Backflip.
“Backflip is filling a significant void in the real estate technology market. Today, commercial real estate investors have a library of technology and tools at their disposal to work efficiently,” Jordan said in a statement. “Whether it's a side hustle or a full-time job, residential real estate entrepreneurs deserve access to a technology platform that can help them scale their real estate business to new heights.”
Acquiring an Austin startup
In other news, Backflip announced it has acquired Refinably, an Austin-based startup that helps businesses and their employees use a variety of tools to work more efficiently and eliminate workflow problems.
“At a time of mass layoffs in the tech industry, we've been fortunate to hire incredibly talented, culturally compatible people over the past year, helping us grow our employee base by 300%,” Ernst said. “The addition of Leslie and Refinable co-founders Drew and Austin to our high-performance team is a great addition to our team. Their unique perspectives and expertise will be invaluable as we enter a new phase of growth.”
Backflip secured a $35 million funding package in May 2022
In May 2022, Backflip announced it had raised a $35 million funding package, including an $8 million equity seed round co-led by Vertical Venture Partners and LiveOak Venture Partners, with participation from Revel Partners, Great Oaks VC, and former founding investor and board member of Trulia and Zillow, Greg Waldorf. Additionally, the company announced it had secured $27 million in dedicated debt funding.
At the time, Backflip said it would use the funding to expand its product development team and accelerate its 2022 public launch in Texas and Colorado.
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