While venture capital is drying up in the Tech Wreck drought, HomeAdvisor Technologies, Inc. has found an eternal spring with its lender investors. Securing more than $100 million in equity funding, the announcement caps other recent successes for the five-month old company including the pilot launch of Realty Desktop, HomeAdvisor's Web-based customer and transaction management system and the debut of its loan platform, boasting the lowest-priced loan available, according to the site.

This round of funding includes equity investments from partners Chase Manhattan Mortgage and GMAC-RFC, two of the nation's largest mortgage companies. HomeAdvisor Technologies is majority-owned by Microsoft and has a strategic alliance with Freddie Mac.

Ian Morris, product manager for HomeAdvisor Technologies, Inc., says, "This is first major outside funding, but it isn't about the money. Obviously Microsoft has been our largest shareholder, but what this means is that Chase and GMAC-RFC are endorsing our products. They have bought into our platforms and are rolling out their own private-branded versions of our Realtor suite of tools and mortgage transaction services to their Realtor partners, credit unions, and mortgage brokers. The funding is a way for them to participate in the long term. We built these products and that is a big advantage for us."

HomeAdvisor Technologies also announced the addition of David Rinn, an eight-year Microsoft veteran and most recently the company's senior director of finance, as the company's chief financial officer. Rinn, who was instrumental in securing these equity investments, has been tapped by Microsoft and the HomeAdvisor leadership team to head up all financial operations for HomeAdvisor going forward.

"These investments are a great testament to the industry leading products we have built, particularly given the current environment for investing in Internet companies," said Rinn. "I am excited to be joining the HomeAdvisor team, and look forward to helping create great value for our partners and customers."

HomeAdvisor is also concerned about how the funding announcement positions the company in the online home arena. According to Morris, the alignment of HomeAdvisor's success is with the players who can make it happen. "There has been a lot of talk since we first announced the formation of HomeAdvisor Technologies, Inc., but we are the ones who have delivered real products," he says.

Published: August 23, 2000

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