Flow, a property marketing platform that automates social media marketing for estate agents and property developers, just announced it has raised $4.5M in pre-Series A funding.
The proptech marketing platform, currently based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, says it will change the way real estate agencies, developers and agents interact with their end customers. With its APIs, Flow connects to the websites of real estate agencies and property developers and automates advertising for them on social media channels like Instagram and Facebook.
The funding will allow the proptech to expand into new markets, such as outdoor billboards and social media platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn. It will enable Flow’s co-CEOs, Gil Sperling and Daniel Levy, to drive the company’s B2B growth strategy and integrate Flow’s social media-focused property marketing platform with international property portals and existing CRM systems.
In 2018, Sperling and Levy launched Flow, an incentive-based rental payment app. Before starting Flow, however, its two founders started Popimedia, an advertising technology and performance marketing company that became the largest buyer of Facebook media inventory in Africa for some of the biggest brands in the world.
Although they sold Popimedia to the international communications firm Publicis in 2015, they used the experience they gained there to help shape the current direction of Flow.
Sperling and Levy hope to connect customers with real estate agencies and property developers across digital channels, something they were unable to do with their previous startup.
The real estate technology company works with companies like Property24 and Private Property to automatically pull listings and create ads on Facebook, Instagram, and other digital channels. This makes it easier for developers and real estate agents to market their properties.
Flow says that its real estate technology (proptech) marketing platform increases agent income and makes both buyers and sellers happy. However, Levy explains that the company profits when agents use their SaaS platform and save money on marketing because of the percentage discount they receive. He also mentioned that monthly sales had increased by 20% year over year.
Flow has over 300 clients, including real estate agencies and developers, with 15-20 smaller agents per office. These 300 clients came from five countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius, and Australia, amounting to 6,000 agents.
The South African startup is in discussions with partners, primarily property portals and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, to expand into Europe (France, Germany, Belgium, and the UK), where it will face more competition—than the co-founders hope Flow will stand out from with its technology and attention to design—but a larger market.
The $2 million in Flow’s pre-Series A round was led by Futuregrowth Asset Management. Kalon Venture Partners, Vunani Fintech Fund, and Buffet Investments, three new investors, joined Endeavor Harvest Fund and serial entrepreneur Steven Heilbron, who were already in the round.
