Private equity firm Genstar Capital (Genstar) has made a strategic growth investment in real estate technology company Inside Real Estate (IRE).
IRE made the announcement to Inman via press release.
Genstar has a history of investments in software, industrials, financial services and healthcare. Private equity firm Lovell Minnick Partners (Lovell Minnick) acquired a majority stake in IRE in 2019.
“Genstar joins Inside Real Estate’s existing financial partner Lovell Minnick, bringing together substantial combined capital in support of Inside Real Estate’s continued growth and innovation and reinforcing IRE position as the leading technology partner to the residential real estate market,” the release stated.
IRE’s flagship real estate business solution, kvCORE Platform, is a popular enterprise option for brokerages in both the United States and Canada. Brokers, teams and agents can leverage its deep suite of tools for all aspects of business oversight, from transaction coordination to website creation and digital marketing.
“We know our success is driven by the success of our customers, said Nick Macey, president of Inside Real Estate, in the press release. “Both Genstar and Lovell Minnick are aligned with our goal of bringing market-leading products and innovation to help our customers compete and win as the real estate landscape continues to evolve.”
The company recently rolled out a consumer-facing software offering, CORE Home. The product helps recent buyers manage their home systems while staying connected to their agent through branded interfaces and communications.
CORE Home was developed over 18 months to ultimately solve the longstanding issue of homebuyers not re-hiring their agents when it comes time to sell. The software has instituted a number of functions to help homeowners remain cognizant in how a home impacts personal wealth and lifestyle, among other tools for physical upkeep and home systems performance monitoring.
“Inside Real Estate has developed into the clear category leader in the real estate technology industry,” said Steve Ozonian, a board member of Inside Real Estate and a member of Lovell Minnick’s Advisory Council. “Lovell Minnick is thrilled to continue working with the Inside Real Estate team and to welcome Genstar as a partner to fuel the company’s continued growth in the New Year and beyond.”
Not long after Lovell Minnick’s investment in IRE, the company announced the acquisition of CMA startup DashCMA, now called CORE Present.
Acquisitions have been common in proptech over the last 18 months, with 2021 being particularly busy.
Inside Real Estate CEO Joe Skousen
In an exclusive interview with Inman about Genstar’s involvement, IRE CEO Joe Skousen wasn’t specific on the topic of additional acquisitions but said there are categories of proptech they’re examining.
“We are an innovator, and will continue to organically develop in the right areas,” he said. “That being said, we do see that there are opportunities both in front and back-office platforms to acquire and bring together great technology to benefit our customers.”
Skousen also said that growing CORE Home remains a company focus, and that Genstar’s understanding of proptech was critical to the organizations’ mutual interest.
“Genstar came in with a lot of context around the space,” Skousen said. “They’ve seen tech companies in the residential space for a number of years, but many of them may not have a clearly defined strategy, or their business dynamics aren’t great. They said they were looking for the leading technology partner in the space.”
Customers of kvCORE range from individual agents to large brokerages, but its broad enterprise offerings have garnered specific attention from internal leadership of late. Skousen said he is excited for all customers to see what this latest news will bring.
“We’re fighting the tech battle with, alongside and behind their strategy, we’re not getting in their way,” he said. “[It’s important] for them to have a tech partner that knows how to bring together the best technologies, integrated from end to end, [so they] don’t have to string together 25 different vendors and solutions.”
