NAR’s REach program launched, now ready to go
Announced last year, the National Association of Realtors’ investment arm, Second Century Venture developed a startup accelerator program called REach which said it would focus on existing companies that are looking to get into the real estate sector.
The program received over 130 applications from high-growth technology companies, and today, the first group of accepted companies has been announced, after what REach is calling a “comprehensive review of their respective business models, ability to execute their business plans and potential to penetrate real estate and other industries with the assistance provided by membership in the REach™ program.”
These six brands make up the REach Class of 2013:
- BombBomb – Provides a complete e-mail and video marketing platform for developing, sending and tracking results of traditional and video e-mail campaigns from any device.
- Lumentus – Gives companies a measurable edge in identifying, understanding and engaging social media communities keeping social media communications on brand and on mission.
- Planwise – Offers a financial planning service that enables individuals to plan for major life events by simply and visually testing real-life scenarios.
- Reach150 – Provides a turnkey referral platform for service professionals to quickly build a positive reputation online.
- Updater – Provides a free service for anyone who is moving to easily forward mail, update accounts, transfer utilities, and sign up for home services in a single location.
- Workface – Offers a unique, quick-to-deploy live chat (text, audio, video) software platform for real time one-on-one conversations at a customer’s moment of interest.
This week, executives from the first class of REach companies are meeting at NAR headquarters in Chicago for individual meetings with REach advisors and mentors, as well as NAR CEO, Dale Stinton. At these meetings, they will be given an industry overview, insights into how buyers and sellers in the industry make decisions, and they will be coached on best practices for reaching and engaging real estate technology buyers.
According to NAR, “REach™ provides education, mentorship and market exposure to help its portfolio companies access the trillion-dollar real estate market and leverage NAR’s strategic expertise. Participating companies interact with highly regarded executives, entrepreneurs, and practitioners who run, manage or have sold real estate companies with a combined multibillion dollars of revenues and marketing spend. In the process, REach™ also fulfills NAR’s core mission by identifying technologies, resources and companies that will benefit the industry and its members.”
