Unprecedented Growth in First Year with Entrepreneurial Agents Drawn to Mobile-First Advantage, 4x More Effective Marketing ROI
SAN FRANCISCO – Avenue 8, the only mobile-first residential real estate brokerage, today announced $14 million in Series A funding co-led by Threshold Ventures and Craft Ventures. The new funding will fuel Avenue 8’s growth as it continues to serve the needs of more agents and expand into major markets. Built expressly to make all agents more effective and allow them to keep more of their income, Avenue 8 has seen unprecedented organic growth and demand since its roll out in San Francisco and the greater Southern California market last year. Craft Ventures general partner Jeff Fluhr will join the company’s Board of Directors.
As entrepreneurial agents and teams seek out more digital fire power and know-how from their brokerage, they are joining Avenue 8 at a rapid clip. Co-founded by Justin Fichelson, a top 1% national residential real estate agent, and Michael Martin, former managing partner at Code and Theory, Avenue 8 has seen 25% compounded monthly agent growth and 96% customer retention since launching in March 2020. This is due in large part to the technology powering the Avenue 8 platform, which produces 4x more effective marketing ROI than industry benchmarks—saving agents hundreds of hours and unlocking millions of dollars in potential commission.
Avenue 8’s rapid growth attracted new co-lead investor, Threshold Ventures, the early-stage venture firm behind Livongo, BetterUp, Divvy, and other disruptive market leaders. Existing investors Craft Ventures, Zigg Capital, and Good Friends also participated in this round. The new funding follows Avenue 8’s December 2020 $4 million seed round, and will drive expansion into major markets like New York City and Miami later this year, in addition to enhancing product development.
“By giving agents the latest tools and services they need to be more effective at their jobs, Avenue 8 has validated strong demand with the current and next generation of realtors and consumers,” said Chirag Chotalia, Partner at Threshold Ventures. “Justin and Michael are founders with the innate ability to recruit next-level operators, enabling the company to gain traction and capitalize on the clear market gap between a high-value brand experience and an agent-aligned business model.”
“We are thrilled to have Threshold join our partners at Zigg, Craft, and Good Friends in collaborating with Avenue 8 as we drive the generational value shift within the brokerage industry,” said Justin Fichelson, co-founder, Avenue 8. “Threshold has long been a trusted partner to founder-led companies; the partners embraced our vision and swiftly engaged with the leadership team to understand our needs, provide strategic counsel, and connect us with the resources necessary to see us through our next phase of growth.”
Avenue 8’s subscription-based model gives agents the end-to-end support they need to be successful and competitive in today’s fast-paced market. The company remains laser-focused on empowering their community of agents with a platform that drives impact for buyers and sellers—affording them more autonomy and flexibility in how they manage their real estate business. Avenue 8 has stayed ahead of demand by bringing on top talent to enhance key business functions, and consistently introducing platform upgrades and new service offerings such as performance marketing automation.
“We’ve experienced extraordinary demand since we first introduced Avenue 8 to the market, which has only intensified our commitment to developing a new way forward in real estate,” said Michael Martin, co-founder, Avenue 8. “This is a significant investment that effectively capitalizes the business for breakout growth at an opportune time in a strong housing market. We’re honored to have an industry veteran like Craft Ventures’ Jeff Fluhr join our board to guide us through challenges and share in our successes.”
“Avenue 8 is swiftly executing on its vision to upend the traditional real estate model,” said Jeff Fluhr, General Partner at Craft Ventures and board member at Avenue 8. “Michael and Justin have created a business model that’s more capital-efficient, more agent-friendly, and more focused than other players in the industry. We’re very excited to be on this journey as Avenue 8 trail-blazes a new paradigm for real estate transactions.”
About Avenue 8
Avenue 8 is a digital and mobile-first residential real estate brokerage for modern agents, empowering them to be more entrepreneurial, to close from anywhere, and to keep substantially more of their income. With an emphasis on simplicity and design, Avenue 8 provides services at scale through a mix of automation and human expertise, from marketing a home to making an offer. For more information, visit: https://www.avenue8.com/.
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