Former Zillow executives Greg Schwartz and Carey Armstrong’s brainchild Tomo Networks is one step closer to completing its summer launch, thanks to a partnership with Tom Ferry announced on Wednesday. Tomo will partner buyers with Tom Ferry-trained agents to help them navigate the mortgage and homebuying process.
Greg Schwartz | Photo credit: Tomo
“Anyone who has bought a house in the last few years would probably agree that the homebuying process is broken,” Schwartz said in a prepared statement. “In the industry’s rush to industrialize, it has lost sight of the fact that this experience is supposed to be exciting and fun, not confusing and tortuous.”
“What we want in homebuying will only be achieved with expert, energetic, customer-obsessed agents to guide us,” he added. “I have known Tom for years; Ferry International is the key to shaping who I like to call the ‘professional athletes of real estate.’ They provide an unrivaled level of service, and it’s an enormous value add for the buyers we’ll be working with.”
A Tomo spokesperson said the startup will release specific details about the buyer-agent partnering process as they get closer to the summer launch date.
“Our agents have the best training and coaching in the industry, producing real, quality and tangible results, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Tomo whose values so closely align with ours,” Ferry International Founder and CEO Tom Ferry said in a statement. “We have a collective passion for helping agents who want to do what’s right for their clients while growing their local business, and I can’t wait to see what the experienced team at Tomo, along with our great leadership, has in store.”
Tomo Networks clinched $40 million in seed round funding in October from Ribbit Capital, NFX, Zigg Capital and SVB Capital. Zillow co-founder and former CEO Spencer Rascoff and private venture investment firm Ackerley Partners LLC also contributed.
“I have known this team for more than a decade and they will deliver on the movement my team and I drove when we founded Trulia: to delight customers with transformational digital experiences related to the real estate transaction,” NFX general partner Pete Flint told Inman of his belief in Tomo. “It’s time to get it done and NFX is excited to partner with this exceptional team.”
Schwartz and Armstrong have yet to share specific details about the Tomo platform; however, they did reveal Tomo will start with offering digital mortgage and transaction services. The company also started an “Agent Advisory Council” with some of the nation’s top producers to help guide the direction of the platform.
“Nothing is more important to the success of Tomo than listening to the feedback and diverse viewpoints of agents from a range of backgrounds as we build toward launch,” Schwartz told Inman in February.
Tomo’s homepage has no clues about specific services or pricing; however, the startup’s hiring page has plenty of analytics, brokerage operations, design, engineering, marketing, mortgage, people and product roles in its Seattle, Austin, Texas, and Stamford, Connecticut offices.