Spruce Pulls In $15.6M

Spruce has raised $15.6 million in new venture capital from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Omidyar Network, and Collaborative Fund, bringing the startup's total Series A financing to $19.1 million. The first digital-native title company, Spruce will use the funding to continue growing its team and building its proprietary technology, which enables fast, frictionless, and secure real estate transactions.

Launched in 2016, Spruce is modernizing the antiquated, paper-based process of closing real estate transactions — an often overlooked, yet critical, part of the experience of buying a home or securing a mortgage.

"A real estate transaction can be one of the most important moments in a person's life, and for many it's a process fraught with confusion, frustration, and unnecessarily high fees," said Patrick Burns, co-founder and CEO of Spruce. "We are building the modern solution to the current challenges faced by homeowners, mortgage lenders, and real estate companies alike. And thanks to our latest funding, we'll have the opportunity to work with more people than ever before."

Unlike other title companies, Spruce brings efficiency, transparency and security into transactions by allowing lenders and real estate companies to manage the title and closing process via intelligent APIs and by providing a digital closing experience to homeowners to manage their closing online. The company's escrow technology allows transaction participants to receive their proceeds quicker and more securely than traditional companies. To date, Spruce has worked with lenders and real estate companies in 36 states and plans to reach 48 states by the end of 2018.

"We're thrilled to continue to support the Spruce team as they look to expand their reach to serve more clients across the country," said Charles Birnbaum, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "There is a lot of room to grow in this industry, and we're confident that Spruce's approach will continue to resonate with lenders and innovative real estate models looking for a more efficient, technology-driven solution."

"Many people find home buying to be overwhelmingly complex and overloaded with paperwork," said Peter Rabley, venture partner at Omidyar Network. "Spruce's tech platform makes the process clearer, faster, and more enjoyable. We are excited by Spruce's next phase of growth, putting more people in control of their most important asset."

This latest funding comes after a Series A in 2017 that included Bessemer Venture Partners, Omidyar Network, and Collaborative Fund. For more information, please visit www.Spruce.co.

About Spruce

Founded in New York in 2016, Spruce works with mortgage lenders and real estate companies to provide title insurance, escrow, and closing services through a proprietary technology platform, leading to process efficiencies and improved user experiences for them and their customers. The dynamic service is available nationwide. For more information, visit www.spruce.co to schedule a demo.

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) is a $5B global venture capital firm that invests in consumer, enterprise and healthcare startups from seven offices around the world. One of the longest-standing venture capital firms in the world, BVP invested in the early stages of Pinterest, Twitch, Blue Apron and Skype and has helped 122 of its companies go public, including SendGrid, Twilio, MindBody, Shopify, Wix, Yelp and LinkedIn. Follow us @BessemerVP.

About Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. Omidyar Network has committed more than $1 billion to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple initiatives, including Digital Identity, Education, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com, and follow on Twitter @omidyarnetwork #PositiveReturns.