OJO Labs today announced that it has closed on a $62.5 million funding round led by Wafra, the investment platform with $25 billion under management, with participation from Breyer Capital, LiveOak Venture Partners, Royal Bank of Canada, and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures. In tandem, we're thrilled to announce the acquisition of Movoto, the fastest-growing top 5 residential real estate search site in the United States with nearly 24 million monthly visits. OJO Labs is transforming the home buying and selling experience with a fusion of human and machine intelligence that delivers deeply personalized property recommendations and guides homebuyers and sellers along their journey.

In joining forces, we are able to offer a seamless experience that provides personalized guidance, insights, and inspiration. In addition to guiding consumers throughout their journey, OJO Labs serves as a strategic partner for brokers, agents, and loan officers. Since the company launched in 2015, OJO Labs has focused on creating deeply personalized technology and an engaging consumer experience. The acquisition of Movoto enables OJO Labs to scale rapidly and bring its deeply personalized technology to millions of homebuyers and sellers.

"The Movoto team is as obsessed with consumer experience as we are at OJO Labs," said John Berkowitz, CEO and Co-founder of OJO Labs. "It is the company's ability to optimize search based on consumer behavior and engagement that has enabled them to compete with three massive, publicly traded companies while steadily gaining market share since 2018. Movoto's consumer-first search site combined with OJO Labs' AI advisor marks a completely new experience that will change the way we buy and sell homes forever."

As an industry, we've made strides to increase access to listings, provide pricing insights, and streamline offers. But there is a significant readiness gap between the initiation of self-guided online search and the moment a consumer is ready to deeply engage with an agent. According to recent research from OJO Labs, consumers are seeking guidance throughout the homebuying journey-64 percent need answers to their questions about the process, 68 percent value support understanding home preferences/criteria, and 72 percent need guidance finding a home that is the right fit for them.

"Buying and selling a home is complex and high stakes, yet homebuyers are left to navigate much of the journey on their own," said Imtiyaz Haque, CEO of Movoto. "We've come together to create a solution that guides consumers every step of the way, driving homebuyer and seller readiness and more confident decision making. Just like OJO Labs, our vision is to create a better home journey experience by arming consumers with insight and inspiration whenever they need it. Our greatest strength is our fully optimized real estate search site. Combine that with OJO Labs' deeply personalized consumer experience and best real estate network in the industry, and you have a scaled end-to-end solution unlike anything that exists on the market."

"We are excited to support the continued growth of OJO Labs through its transformational acquisition of Movoto," said Russell Valdez, CIO of Wafra, who joined the board of OJO Labs. "With its world class management team and innovative approach, OJO Labs is a leader in the ongoing advancement of the residential homebuying experience for the millions of consumers that embark on that journey each year."

"The way people buy and sell homes is changing," said Jim Breyer, Founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, a premier venture capital firm, and former Facebook and Walmart board member. "This evolution has been expedited by recent events, and the real estate industry is on the cusp of something new in the wake of COVID-19. With a clear vision for the future and the technology to back it up, I believe OJO Labs is poised to be a leader in the next era of the homebuying industry."

Whether you're just starting your search, are looking to discover homes that fit you, or are ready to view homes, we're with you every step of the way. To begin your journey, visit movoto.com or ojo.com.