Selling a house is one of the most complicated and stressful financial transactions, and any renovations needed before listing and selling the home adds another level of stress. Renovations can be costly but the demand from modern homebuyers for updated features often means it’s a necessity. One company is easing the burden on sellers by offering a fix first, pay-at-closing solution for home improvements. Curbio, which just raised $65 million in Series B funding, allows customers to get their homes on the market fast with renovation payments deferred until the property sells.
Curbio’s proprietary technology allows homeowners to get proposals, source labor and materials, track projects, get visual updates and more through its platform and app. Customers can communicate in real-time with contractors to manage the renovation process, meaning sellers don’t have to be onsite for every renovation decision.
According to the company, Curbio’s projects are finished 50 percent faster than with traditional home improvement financing. Homes with newly done projects by Curbio also stay on the market for half the time and sell for 20 percent more.
“Curbio is taking an outdated, broken process and dramatically improving it to benefit realtors, home sellers and subcontractors,” Curbio CEO Rick Rudman said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to have Revolution Growth lead an amazing group of investors with expertise in proptech, marketplaces and scaling disruptive startups. They will be invaluable to Curbio as we shake up an $85 billion industry which has not seen any real innovation in decades.”
Potomac-based Curbio will use the new funding from Revolution Growth to expand into additional markets and advance its technology. It also plans to grow its invitation-only job platform for five-star contractors.
The company will also add Patrick Conroy, a partner at Revolution Growth, to its board. According to a company statement, Conroy hopes to make the brand a household name in the proptech industry.
“The home renovation market is massive, and a large portion of that spend happens in Curbio’s wheelhouse with pre-sale upgrades,” Conroy said in a statement. “Curbio’s technology-enabled solution addresses a major mismatch in the U.S. housing market — more than 80 percent of homes are over 15 years old and more than half of new buyers are millennials seeking modern layouts and finishes in their new homes. Curbio bridges this gap for home buyers and ensures that sellers get the most value out of their home quickly and reliably.”
