Placester Valuation, Funding & Investors

Placester is valued at $372M as of March 2017.

Last Placester valuation

$372M

Series D · Mar 2017

Last Placester funding round

$50M

Series D · Mar 2017

Cumulative funding Placester raised

$108M

across 5 funding rounds

Key investors in Placester

  • Romulus Capital
  • New Enterprise Associates
  • Angel Street Capital
  • Michael Bean

Placester Overview

About Placester

Placester is a comprehensive platform equipping real estate agents with customizable websites, MLS integrations, and marketing automation. Boston-headquartered since 2011, it delivers natural language search, mobile apps, and analytics to two in five U.S. professionals. Placester exclusively provides websites for the National Association of REALTORS Benefits Program and partners with brands like Keller Williams across North America for lead generation and transaction tools.


Founded

2008

HQ

United StatesBoston, MA

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Subscription

Valuation

$372M (Mar 2017)

Placester Valuation

Placester is currently valued at $372M, based on its Series D in March 2017.

The $50M round was led by New Enterprise Associates.

Placester's valuation has grown 8.5x from $44M at its Series A in April 2014 to $372M in March 2017, across 2 priced rounds.

Placester valuation by funding round

Placester valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
Mar 2017Series D$372M
Apr 2014Series A$44M

Placester Funding History

Placester has raised a total of $108M across 5 funding rounds.

Placester's first fundraising round was a $3M seed round in April 2013. The most recent completed round was a $50M Series D in March 2017.

Placester funding rounds

Placester funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Mar 2017Series DNew Enterprise Associates (lead)$50M$372MPlacester is a Boston-based real estate marketing platform offering an all-in-one toolkit for real estate professionals, including lead-capturing websites, lead management, email marketing, marketing automation, analytics, free education, and 24/7 support. The company announced a $50 million Series D funding round on March 24, 2017, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), which doubled its previous investments and brought Placester's total capital raised to $100 million. Prior investors included Romulus Capital and Techstars. Placester reported more than 300% year-over-year revenue growth for the last three years leading up to the round, with a user base exceeding 400,000, bolstered by partnerships with Keller Williams, RE/MAX/Integra, and the National Association of Realtors. The funding aims to support an aggressive product roadmap to address digital marketing challenges in real estate. The company had previously acquired RealSatisfied, an Australian firm providing customer satisfaction tools and big data insights for brokers, agents, and brands. NEA's investment underscores continued venture capital interest in agent-centric real estate technology amid a growing market for verticalized software solutions.
Nov 2015Series CNew Enterprise Associates (lead); Romulus Capital (lead)$27M-Placester is a Boston-based marketing platform founded in 2011 by CEO Matthew Barba and CTO Frederick Townes that provides real estate agents and brokers with digital tools to build web presence and market their services. The platform includes MLS integration, IDX websites, responsive design, mobile optimization, lead management, CRM capabilities, and marketing automation tools such as Facebook advertising and Google AdWords integration. By 2015, Placester was serving over 100,000 real estate professionals and had signed major clients including Keller Williams and RE/MAX, reaching approximately one in five real estate agents in the U.S. In November 2015, Placester closed a $27 million Series C funding round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), bringing total company funding to $50 million. This rapid funding followed a $15 million Series B round in April 2015 (also led by NEA with Romulus Capital participation) and earlier investment from Techstars. The Series C proceeds were allocated toward developing mobile applications for agents, expanding real estate search capabilities, improving information sharing between agents and buyers, and investing in customer service and marketing teams. Placester had established itself as a key player in real estate technology by securing exclusive alliances with multiple listing services (MLSs) across the United States, controlling access to regional real estate listing data. The company offered tiered pricing ranging from $10 per month for basic services to $400 per month for premium packages, and provided free IDX websites to National Association of REALTORS members through the REALTOR Benefits program at $240 annually.
Apr 2015Series BNew Enterprise Associates (lead); Romulus Capital$15M-Placester is a marketing platform that fuses technology and design to improve the home buying process for consumers, brokers, and agents, offering MLS integration, high-resolution visuals, responsive design, mobile optimization, and tools like Facebook advertising and Google AdWords. The company serves over 100,000 real estate professionals and is the sole website provider for the National Association of REALTORS® member benefits program, REALTOR Benefits®. In April 2015, Placester closed a $15 million Series B funding round led by new investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from previous investor Romulus Capital, bringing total funding to $22-23 million including backing from Techstars. NEA partners Ravi Viswanathan and Chetan Puttagunta joined the board. The funding supports growing headcount from 50 to 100 employees to innovate for real estate agents serving local markets. Real estate agents and brokers spend $25 billion annually on marketing and advertising, with digital spend growing over tenfold in the prior five years.
Apr 2014Series ARomulus Capital (lead); Angel Street Capital; Michael Bean$14M$44MPlacester is a real estate advertising network and marketing platform that provides tools for agents, brokers, and publishers, including MLS integration, search technology, responsive websites, and native advertising. The company partners with major players like Hearst Corporation and serves real estate professionals with white-labeled portals optimized for consumer engagement. On April 22, 2014, Placester raised a $5.5 million Series A round led by Romulus Capital, with participation from Angel Street Capital, Dave Anderson, Josh Summers, David Cohen, and Adam Berrey, bringing total funding to $8 million at a post-money valuation of $44.24 million. The funds supported expansion into products for local media companies amid growth in real estate tech. Placester's platform addressed the need for digital solutions in real estate, helping professionals disrupt traditional industries and compete with emerging platforms. By 2015, the company had grown significantly, raising additional rounds including a $15 million Series B led by New Enterprise Associates and a $27 million Series C, reaching $50 million total funding while serving over 100,000 agents and securing contracts with Keller Williams and RE/MAX. Employee headcount doubled from 43 to 105 in 2015, with one in five U.S. real estate agents using the platform.
Apr 2013SeedRomulus Capital (lead)$3M-Placester is a real estate marketing platform founded in 2009 by Matt Barba, a former real estate agent, that provides website building and marketing tools for real estate professionals. The platform offers MLS integration, responsive design, mobile optimization, and marketing capabilities including Facebook advertising and Google AdWords, with pricing starting at $10 per month for agents. In April 2013, Placester closed a $2.5 million seed financing round led by Romulus Capital, with participation from angel investors including David Anderson, David Cohen, Josh Summers, and others. At the time of the round, Placester reported serving tens of thousands of realtors with monthly user growth of 20 percent, coverage of approximately 85 percent of MLSes across the U.S., and hundreds of paid conversions from a freemium model launched about five months prior. The company went on to raise additional capital, closing a $5.5 million Series A round in April 2014 and a $15 million Series B round in April 2015.

Who has invested in Placester?

4 investors have backed Placester across its funding rounds, including Romulus Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Angel Street Capital and Michael Bean.

Lead investors include New Enterprise Associates and Romulus Capital.


Placester Investors

Investors in Placester by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Romulus CapitalUnited StatesUnited States4LeadApr 2013
New Enterprise AssociatesUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA3LeadApr 2015

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Acquisitions by Placester

Placester has acquired 2 companies to date.

Last acquisition by Placester was on April 19th 2016. Placester acquired RealSatisfied for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by Placester

RealSatisfied
HomeFinder.com
Description
RealSatisfied is a Sydney-headquartered platform delivering customer satisfaction tools tailored for real estate brokers, agents, and brands. It aggregates big data from client feedback to generate actionable insights on service performance and market trends. The company integrates review collection across multiple channels, including post-transaction surveys and online portals, enabling professionals to boost online reputations through verified testimonials. RealSatisfied serves Australian real estate markets primarily, with features like automated review requests and analytics dashboards that track Net Promoter Scores and sentiment analysis.
HomeFinder.com is a real estate search platform listing over four million U.S. properties, integrated with iOS and Android apps for mobile browsing. Acquired by Move Inc. in 2013 and part of News Corp's network, it delivers tools for homebuyers including neighborhood insights and mortgage calculators. Real estate agents access lead generation, IDX websites, and CRM integrations through its portal, connecting with three million monthly visitors nationwide.
HQ CountryAustraliaUnited States
HQ City
Sydney
Chicago, IL
Deal Date19 Apr 20165 Mar 2016
Valuationundisclosedundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Placester Competitors

Placester competitors include listed companies like Wiseway Group and Lime Technologies, and private ones like 3vjia.com, Total Expert, Higharc and Car Capital Technologies.

Public and private companies comparable to Placester
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
3vjia.comChinaChinaPrivate--$350M-
Total ExpertUnited StatesMinneapolis, MNPrivate--$347M-
HigharcUnited StatesDurham, NCPrivate--$233M-
Car Capital TechnologiesUnited StatesDallas, TXPrivate--$170M-
Wiseway GroupAustraliaAustraliaPublicly listed$132M$9M$32M-
Lime TechnologiesSwedenSwedenPublicly listed$75M$23M$330M4.1x

Placester Public Comps

Placester is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Nordtech Group, Lime Technologies, Weimob, Beijing Quanshi World, AnyMind Group, Sidetrade, Coveo Solutions, Eleco, Quadient and Ming Yuan Cloud Group.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Nordtech Group$72M$15M5.1x-25.2x-
Lime Technologies$75M$23M4.5x4.1x14.6x13.2x
Weimob$237M($10M)2.1x1.9x(51.7x)25.0x
Beijing Quanshi World$169M($19M)2.3x-(20.8x)-
AnyMind Group$368M$12M1.0x0.7x30.8x10.5x
Sidetrade$74M$9M4.2x4.0x35.0x23.2x
Coveo Solutions$148M($25M)1.2x1.2x(7.3x)107.6x
Eleco$52M$9M4.6x4.5x25.8x16.8x

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Common questions about Placester

When was Placester founded?Placester was founded in 2008.
Where is Placester headquartered?Placester is headquartered in Boston, MA, United States.
Is Placester publicly listed?No, Placester is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Placester's valuation?Placester was last valued at $372M in its Series D in March 2017.
How much funding has Placester raised?Placester has raised $108M across 5 funding rounds.
What was Placester's last funding round?Placester's last funding round was a $50M Series D in March 2017, led by New Enterprise Associates.
Who are Placester's investors?Placester's investors include Romulus Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Angel Street Capital and Michael Bean.
Which companies are comparable to Placester?Companies comparable to Placester include 3vjia.com, Total Expert, Higharc, Car Capital Technologies, Wiseway Group and Lime Technologies.
How many companies has Placester acquired?Placester has acquired 2 companies, including RealSatisfied and HomeFinder.com.

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