Yopa announces completion of £20m funding round led by dmg ventures

– UK, London – Yopa, the full service, fixed fee estate agent, announces that it has completed a £20 million funding round from existing investors that was led by dmg ventures, the venture capital arm of Daily Mail & General Trust and with further participation by Grosvenor Hill Ventures, the investment arm of Savills, and the Company’s founders. This brings Yopa’s total equity funding to over £75 million since it launched its hybrid model in January 2016 following three earlier investment rounds that included the latest backers in addition to LSL Property Services plc, which continues to be a significant investor.
The new funding will be used to accelerate the company’s growth through additional investment in its best-in-class customer service, which will include:

• expanding Yopa’s network of 140 local agents operating nationwide;
• further enhancing Yopa’s proprietary technology;
• continuing to evolve Yopa’s product offering; and
• supporting the development of Yopa’s newly launched customer service centre in Watford.

Having been launched by customers for customers 2.5 years ago, Yopa has already become one of the largest UK estate agency brands and continues to rapidly climb the rankings with more properties listed for sale in the first half of 2018 than over the whole of last year as more customers are attracted to its transparent and flexible way of selling houses.  The company is disrupting traditional high street agencies by doing away with the unnecessary cost of high street shop fronts and leveraging its proprietary technology and scale to deliver a great experience for its customers, all for a low fixed fee which can be paid upfront or on completion of a house sale through its No Sale, No Fee offering.

Ben Poynter, CEO of Yopa, commented: “This latest funding round from existing backers, who themselves have a deep understanding of our market, is clear recognition of Yopa’s potential to disrupt the traditional home sales industry. Since last year, Yopa has continued to rapidly grow its market share firmly cementing its position to become the UK’s eighth largest estate agency brand.

“Our success to date is down to an unwavering commitment to focus on the customer and this new investment will help us to continue to enhance our offering whilst supporting an ever growing number of customers who value a quality estate agency service for a fair fee.”

Manuel Lopo De Carvalho, CEO of dmg ventures, said: “Yopa is a stand-out performer in dmg ventures’ portfolio and we are thrilled to support Ben Poynter and his team. dmg ventures backs innovative start-ups at the intersection of consumer, media and technology, and Yopa is a great example of how we can bring our experience and media understanding to bear for young companies seeking to build consumer brands.

“DMGT has a long-term approach and history of investing in early-stage businesses, having helped to create what became Zoopla from investments we made in the early 2000s. We’ve closely followed the dynamics of the property market and believe that technology-driven consumer demand will move estate agency transactions from the high street to online hybrids such as by Yopa.”

Simon Shaw, chairman of Grosvenor Hill Ventures, added “Following a year of substantial growth in market share, and focus on client service, we are delighted to support Yopa as it develops into a substantial player in mainstream UK residential agency.”

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