(NEW YORK, NY) — Since its launch in 2012, Compass has raised more than $1.5 billion, said Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass. Investors involved in the recent round include Dragoneer Investment Group, including the firm’s existing investors such as SoftBank Vision Fund, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Qatar Investment Authority.
The New York-based brokerage has been a major disruptor in the real estate industry in recent years. By luring top agents with generous commission splits and stock options, Compass’ deep pockets left competitors struggling to keep up amid the slow housing market and shrinking margins.
Dragoneer Investment Group’s involvement in the recent round signifies that Compass is on its way to consider a public offering. Dragoneer has a record of late-stage venture-capital investments that often precede IPOs. For example, companies such as Uber and Slack, in the run-up to their public offerings.
Compass plans to use the new capital to invest further into its technology to expand its East and West coast tech teams. Earlier this year, Compass launched an engineering hub in Seattle to build an “end-to-end software platform to streamline the home buying and selling experience,” and plans to staff it with about 100 more engineers, while Compass already employs about 300 people in its tech department.
The company appears to be growing robustly with revenue surging and employing about 2,200 employees, up from under 1,000 last year. Compass has more than 300 offices across the country and a team of more than 13,000 agents that work as independent contractors.
This past month Compass was sued by Realogy Holdings Corp, the parent company of Corcoran Group, Sotheby’s International Realty, Coldwell Banker amongst other real-estate firms, claiming Compass has engaged in unfair and illegal practices to gain market share.
