Compass is acquiring Modus, a title and escrow software startup, bringing the well-funded real estate company closer to its goal of building an end-to-end technology platform for the real estate industry. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Joseph Sirosh | Photo credit: Compass
“Modus is transforming title and escrow from an offline, antiquated undertaking into a transparent tech-enabled solution that saves real estate agents time by simplifying the entire closing process,” Compass Chief Technology Officer Joseph Sirosh said in a statement.
“Compass has significantly accelerated our ability to provide agents with a more complete suite of services with this acquisition,” Sirosh added. “Not only are we integrating Modus software into our platform — we’re also gaining an experienced team that comes with a deep understanding of building for, and driving adoption within, this complex and highly fragmented industry.”
Modus’ 60-plus team of engineers and operations employees are set to join Compass at its Seattle-based technology hub.
Modus, also a Seattle-based company, was founded by Alex Day, Jai Sim, and Abbas Guvenilir in 2018, with the goal of digitizing the home closing process through the creation of a digital closing tech platform. The company raised $12.5 million in Series A funding in November 2019. The round was co-led by venture capital firm, NFX, whose partners include Trulia founder Pete Flint.
On its website, Modus boasts that more than $2 billion in home sales have been closed on the Modus platform.
Alex Day | Photo credit: Modus
“Compass’s customer-first approach is right in line with the way we think about our business — since day one we have been focused on empowering agents and their clients by improving all aspects of the home-closing process,” Day, Modus’ co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We are incredibly excited to become part of the Compass team at this pivotal time in our industry, and look forward to joining in their mission of building the future of real estate for agents and their clients.”
The acquisition comes at a time when digital closings are booming in the real estate industry, as brokerages and consumers navigate ever-changing local safety regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compass has had a long-stated goal of building an end-to-end platform for the real estate industry, raising huge sums of money on the back of that premise. To accomplish that goal, the company has opened technology hubs in New York City, Washington D.C., Seattle and India.
The company’s current product and engineering team, led by Sirosh, a former Microsoft exec, and Amazon veteran Greg Hart, is approximately 550 employees strong and still hiring, according to a spokesperson for Compass.
The acquisition of Modus is the latest for Compass, which previously acquired Contactually to build the customer relationship management tool at the heart of the company’s technology platform. The company also acquired Detectica, an artificial intelligence startup in November 2019.
