Real estate CRM Realvolve and multifaceted proptech firm Firepoint have merged. News of the merger, in the works since April, 2019, was shared exclusively with Inman.
The company is working with a consulting firm to arrive at a new name. Customers can expect to still hear from each respective company until branding is finalized.
The new company will mesh their technologies, which span a wide range of sales support, deal management, business oversight and marketing technologies. Both offer customer relationship management products.
Dave Crumby
There are multiple feature redundancies between the two private companies, but Dave Crumby, formerly the CEO of Realvolve, told Inman that feature redundancy was the least of the merger’s complications.
“We both build state-of-the-art, robust technologies, and but what mattered most to both companies was that the combined product line would ensure our clients would continue to get what they expect and that we’d level up,” Crumby said. “At our core, we’re product people, and that’s our mutual truth.”
Firepoint and Realvolve both serve teams, as well, while the former blends its CRM with coaching functionality, lead generation, follow-up automation, tasks and communications. Realvolve includes transaction oversight functionality, individualized workflows, and scheduling and calendar tools.
Crumby will be CEO, and Gabe Cordova of Firepoint will serve as president.
Gabe Cordova
“What they excelled at and who they had from positions of leadership through training and sales, it filled in gaps where we wanted to improve,” Cordova said, referring to Realvolve. “Everything was about growth and opportunity, everything just made sense for us, for our clients and employees.”
Crumby and Cordova said no one is getting laid off as a result of the merger and that they’re actively hiring.
The merger began with a LinkedIn email in 2019, which Crumby ignored twice.
“I looked again, and each one had increased with intensity and interest,” Crumby said. The following week they were meeting on the 55th floor of an office building in Manhattan.
The ensuing months involved joint examinations of each organization, from technology to how the offices were managed. However, Crumby said it was about more than product architecture and organizational structure.
“That wasn’t enough, we wanted to understand each other’s philosophies, ethos, and make sure we had common goals in who we wanted to serve,” Crumby said.
“There was something different about the meetings with Dave,” Cordova said. “It was this alignment of belief and understanding of how we wanted to take care of the agent. There was no ego, it was all consumer-first.”
The company will be located in Denver. Both companies were founded there in 2014.
In terms of a roadmap or new products coming out of the merger, Crumby told Inman they’ll base it on what customers expect.
“With what we’ve learned collectively through both companies over the years … about what our customers love and are using to improve their businesses, we’ll take the best of those, and pool them together,” Crumby said.
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