EasyKnock acquires Ribbon

EasyKnock, a residential sale-leaseback platform, announced its acquisition of Ribbon, a real estate startup that provides borrowers with upfront financing to make all-cash offers on homes. Terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2017, Ribbon raised over $400 million in venture capital funding and one backer is First American Financial Corporation, which is known for title insurance and settlement services but also offers P&C insurance products. The startup has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs, going from ~385 employees in May 2022 to ~30 employees today.

Founded in 2016, EasyKnock gives people the option to sell their home and keep living in it as renters. The startup raised around $95 million.

“We are thrilled to bring Ribbon and EasyKnock’s cutting edge financial products together under one roof to provide more options and a competitive advantage to consumers and industry partners nation-wide. This marks the beginning of a new wave of innovation in the real estate sector, the advent of PropTech 3.0. By combining these product suites and offering solutions for every stop along the homeownership journey, we are better positioned to responsibly empower more families with the financial flexibility and control they need to achieve their goals.” – Jarred Kessler, CEO and co-founder of EasyKnock.

“Making homeownership achievable has been Ribbon’s mission and guiding light since its inception. EasyKnock and Ribbon share a vision of enhancing consumer choice in the industry, facilitating its success and enabling a more simplified buying and selling experience. We are thrilled to come together with EasyKnock and their pioneering sale-leaseback offering to provide solutions to more and more people. Combined with Ribbon’s award-winning homebuying solutions and network of 90,000 agents and lenders, we are motivated to empower consumers across the country.” – Shaival Shah, CEO and co-founder of Ribbon.