A recently launched mobile app being touted as “Bumble for real estate” got a $2.6 million right swipe from investors.
Casa Blanca is meant to match buyers and renters with suitable homes by using an in-app algorithm to streamline and sort listings based on users’ lifestyle priorities and preferences. Shoppers choose or reject options with a simple left or right swipe, much like dating app users do when shopping for dates or mates.
The real estate search app was launched in October 2020 by Hannah Bomze, who worked at Compass and Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York City before launching Casa Blanca. Altogether, the startup has received $4.1 million in total funding, with the recent $2.6 million cash infusion led by serial entrepreneur Samuel Ben-Avraham, who was also an early investor in WeWork.
The app is being called the “Bumble of real estate” because, like Tinder or Bumble, Casa Blanca instructs users to swipe right if they are interested in a home, and left to pass on it. The internal algorithm learns as users swipe, customizing which homes they see based on their swiping practices. When the home shopper is finished browsing, the app pairs the user with “an agent on Casa Blanca’s team of real estate experts to seamlessly guide you through the process.” The company is currently associated with 38 agents in NYC and Colorado, which is more than double the number of agents it had on its roster last year at this time.
First introduced only in NYC, Casa Blanca has since expanded to the Denver, Colo. area, and Bomze said the app will be customized to create a city-specific experience for users. She plans to use the funding capital to expand the platform into other cities.
“As we continue to grow in new markets, the app experience will be curated to each city — for example, in Colorado you can edit your preferences based on access to ski areas — to make sure we’re offering a personalized experience for each user,” Bomze said.
