Homeward, an Austin-based startup that helps homeowners buy before selling or get cash offers, has raised $120 million in a Series D round led by Saluda Grade, with participation from Citi Ventures, Norwest, and others. The company has now raised $360 million in equity since its 2018 founding, though it declined to disclose the valuation, saying it was similar to its 2021 Series C valuation of just north of $800 million. Homeward also secured a $330 million asset-backed debt facility to fund more transactions.
The company initially focused on its Buy Before You Sell program, which provides short-term financing for homeowners to purchase a new home before selling their current one. But as rising interest rates made moving more expensive and fewer people transacted, Homeward pivoted in early 2023 to launch Sell Before You List, a cash-offer service that lets homeowners sell quickly without sacrificing equity. The company then fixes up the property, resells it on the open market, and returns the profit to the original homeowner.
According to founder and CEO Tim Heyl, this pivot helped Homeward more than quadruple revenue since 2021, even as U.S. home sales fell roughly 30%. The company has partnered with over 25,000 real estate agents and facilitated more than $4 billion in transactions. It plans to make its Buy Before You Sell program available nationwide by year-end and is expanding its financing products and technology platform.
The funding comes amid an uptick in proptech investment: global real estate startups have raised about $12.7 billion so far in 2026, on pace to exceed last year's $12.3 billion, though still below the 2019 peak of $24 billion. Homeward's strategy relies on agent relationships rather than direct consumer marketing, with some agents white-labeling its offerings under their own brands. The company says it does not spend on direct-to-consumer advertising. (Source: Crunchbase News, exclusive reporting by Mary Ann Azevedo.)