Compass has chosen transaction management platform Glide as its first post-IPO acquisition, according to a an announcement on Monday. The brokerage declined to disclose the financial details of the purchase, which is expected to close this week.
Joseph Sirosh
“The Glide team has built a seamless software solution that has attracted tens of thousands of real estate agents in California, including many Compass agents who love the service,” Compass Chief Technology Officer Joseph Sirosh said in a press release. “Their products have an excellent track record of saving time, reducing risk, and simplifying every step of the offer process — and of course, making complex tasks seem effortless for agents and their clients.”
Founded in 2018, Glide enables agents and brokers to complete offer, disclosure and closing documents online. Glide offers a free plan for members of 60 California-based Realtor and MLS associations, and two pro plans for agents and brokers that include additional features, such as branding and the ability to upload brokerage-specific custom forms. The agent pro plan costs $45 per month, while the broker pro plan follows a sliding scale.
“Glide was founded to make real estate transactions faster, simpler and trusted for every agent and client,” said Glide C-Founder and CEO Sebastian Tonkin said in a prepared statement. “We share Compass’ vision for the future of real estate and are excited to work together to bring cutting-edge technology to the entire industry.”
Tonkin and Compass Chief Product Officer Greg Hart said Glide will continue to service agents and brokers at all brokerages, and all Glide user data will be housed on separate, dedicated servers. “Glide remains committed to being a trusted and open platform available to all agents across the industry. We are excited to invest in Glide, expand Glide to states across the country, and add new features and functionality for all agents,” Hart said.
Sebastian Tonkin
In a separate blog post, Tonkin said the company “will hire an independent privacy expert to ensure we have continued compliance with industry-leading data privacy best-practices.”
Leading up to the acquisition, Lone Wolf Technologies sued Glide over the alleged “theft of trade secrets” during the company’s time as a Lone Wolf marketplace member. In the suit filed with the California Superior Court in Los Angeles County, Lone Wolf said subsidiary ZipLogix “identified hundreds of instances, starting September 1, 2020, of unauthorized access and use of the Software by Glide.”
In a January blog post, Glide denied any wrongdoing and announced the rollout of its partnership with the California Association of Realtors. The companies’ four-month legal battle ended on April 5, when Judge Ethan P. Schulman dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning Lone Wolf cannot file the same suit against Glide again. “The lawsuit was dismissed pursuant to a settlement between Lone Wolf and Glide. [The] terms of the settlement are confidential,” a Lone Wolf spokesperson explained in an email to Inman.
“With your partnership, we’ve made significant progress towards addressing some of the biggest workflow challenges in the industry,” the Glide team said in a blog post reflecting over the past months and announcing the Compass partnership. “Looking ahead, we could not be more excited to have the support of Compass behind us as we find new ways to simplify collaboration between agents and enable faster, simpler and safer transactions for the entire ecosystem.”
Over the past four years, Compass has had several headline-grabbing acquisitions, such as its purchase of Pacific Union International, Paragon Real Estate, Contactually and Modus. In February, Compass purchased KVS Title for $78.6 million, $52.2 million of which was in cash. Another $26.4 million in cash was offered in connection with other certain contingencies.
