Agora raises $34M Series B to keep building the Carta for real estate
Since he was very young, Bar Mor knew that he would inevitably do something with real estate. His family was involved in all types of real estate projects, from ground-up construction to managing residential, commercial and retail properties.
But unlike his parents, Mor also had a passion for technology. His interest in tech was reinforced when he became a commander in Unit 8200, the elite cyber intelligence division of the Israeli Defense Forces known for minting tech entrepreneurs.
After leaving the army, he decided to combine his two passions: Mor noticed that many real estate investors do not have a dedicated system for keeping track of various back-office processes such as managing cash collected from rent, calculating and distributing proceeds to their LPs and many other administrative functions.
"We've seen companies struggling with managing all of these things using a lot of spreadsheets, emails and [other] disjointed systems that don't interact with each other," Mor said.
That realization led him, together with Unit 8200 friends Lior Dolinski and Noam Kahan, to found Agora, a software company that manages data, automates reporting, streamlines fundraising processes and provides bookkeeping and tax services for real estate investment firms of various sizes.
Mor said that when he was initially fundraising, he told investors he was building Carta for real estate. It's easy to see the comparison: Carta manages cap tables for startups and VCs, along with other administrative functions. Since real estate investing is similarly data-intensive, investors need tools that automate manual work and calculate yields.
Agora has tripled its revenue every year since it launched five years ago. Thanks to its strong growth, the company announced on Thursday that it has raised a $34 million Series B from Israel-based growth fund Qumra Capital, along with returning investors Insight Partners and Aleph. The funding brought Agora's total funding to $63 million.
Mor said raising this latest round wasn't difficult for the company.
Although some real estate investors have struggled amid the rising interest rate environment, Agora continued to grow and maintain a high client retention rate, Mor said. "It shows that we are actually solving something that is not a nice-to-have. It's a must-have."
Agora currently operates predominantly in North America, Europe and Israel, but it plans to start serving customers in other markets, including Central America, South America and Australia.
Mor's family experience with real estate continues to help him build the company.
"My personal background gave me [a way] to understand how real estate people think, what they care about, and how they negotiate," he said.
This knowledge informed various parts of Agora's business, including how account managers interact with customers. Every customer has the cell phone number of their account manager.
"Real estate guy, he has his broker, he has his lawyer, he has his bank relationship. He wants everything like this," Mor said, putting his hand next to his ear as if holding a phone. "The idea is we are your technology partner. 'You need something with your tech? Call Agora.'"
