Member Article

London VCs amongst investors to stump up £9m for eMoov investment

Online estate agent eMoov has received backing from a string of London venture capital firms as part of its latest £9m funding in a round led by Simba Sleep-backers JXC Ventures.

The property technology business, which has previously raised over £3m, has been backed by Episode 1 VC, Maxfield Capital, Spire and Startive Ventures in the round, along with contributions from tech angels, family offices and other high net work individuals.

Founded in 2009, eMoov is part of the new generation of ‘hybrid estate agents’ giving homeowners the opportunity to sell their homes online from as little as £795 with listings featured on major sites including RightMove, Zoopla and Prime Location.

Founder and chief executive Russell Quirk said that the estate agency space was ‘changing drastically’ and that the market share of online and hybrid businesses was growing at a rapid click.

He said: “During this time, we’ve watched the online/hybrid sector evolve to become well established with market share more than doubling in the last two years.

“During this time, we’ve been focused on building a superior technology platform; hiring an unbeatable management team and providing the best customer service in the industry.

“With these strong foundations in place, we now feel it’s time to accelerate our growth through a clever and sustained marketing investment strategy.”

Following this latest funding round, which places a valuation of around £40m on the business, eMoov will be put towards further developing its technology platform along with a renewed focus on marketing fuelled by a new marketing team.

James Cox, Principal at JXC Ventures said: “Having followed the PropTech sector for a number of years, eMoov was the first company that really ticked all of the boxes for us.

“Their unrivalled tech platform allows for rapid growth, with a focus on optimisation rather than removing the human element from what is still a ‘people business’.

“The new marketing team, along with investment leveraging this strong core, will create significant shareholder value over the years to come as the market shifts towards the online sector even more rapidly.”