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SoftBank-backed Compass’s real estate agent tech stack – Business Insider


SoftBank-backed real estate brokerage Compass is developing what it calls the first end-to-end software platform for real estate agents.

The company’s New York regional manager, Rory Golod, walked Business Insider through the real estate agent tools, and explained the short-term tech roadmap for Compass.

Founded in 2012, Compass was valued at $6.4 billion in its most recent funding round and has grown rapidly through buying up other brokerages.

Golod, who was previously Compass CEO Robert Reffkin’s chief of staff (Reffkin himself was Gary Cohn’s chief of staff at Goldman Sachs), explained that a lot of the tools are simply aimed at saving agents’ time. 

“The innovation is integration,” Golod said. Compass’ technology suite is interconnected, hoping to replace the collection of software tools that agents use regularly. This end-to-end program also provides the data that Compass’s AI and machine learning teams need in order to develop and train algorithms, he said. 

Compass hired its CTO, Joseph Sirosh, in 2018, and he has helped launch a Seattle engineering office, with plans to build another in India soon. Sirosh was formerly CTO of artificial intelligence at Microsoft. 

Compass said in November it had bought New York-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) company Detectica. Over the past year,  Compass has also bought a real estate customer relationship management (CRM) tool called Contactually.

The failed IPO of WeWork, another SoftBank-backed company, has prompted some to look more closely at the valuations of fast-growing venture-backed startups that put a tech-heavy spin on disrupting existing industries. 

The Real Deal reported in October that Compass CFO Kristen Ankerbrandt sent around talking points to staff to distance the company from WeWork. 

A number of top execs left Compass in September, including head of communications Jason Post and chief operating officer Maelle Gavet. 

A summary of Golod’s walkthrough is below.

If you work in real estate and would like to share your experiences or comments about tech tools in the space, please send me an email at anicoll@businessinsider.com.



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