Former CEO of Purplebricks in US seeks £5.75m to grow his own hybrid agency

Eric Eckhardt, the former CEO of Purplebricks in the US, has relaunched a hybrid estate agency that he first established in 2015 and is seeking $7 million (£5.75 million) from global investors.

Eckhardt, who spent over two years launching Purplebricks in America before departing in February this year, says his re-launched Dwellowner platform is gaining listings and pending transactions and has 24 team members including 18 realtors based in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, California and Florida.

The company is to offer an ‘i-buyer’ service which will enable property investors to buy homes direct via its platform, a concept that has already been tried in the US by US portal Zillow.

In a subtle swipe at his former employer, Eckhardt says his new business is ‘US-centric’, includes 12 former Purplebricks realtors, and will be ‘a broader more balanced model with a world class team’ in comparison to Purplebricks, he has told The Negotiator.

Viable alternative

Dwellowner says it offers property sellers and buyers a ‘viable alternative versus a traditional real estate model to save thousands on commission with local real estate professionals’.

The company is the first of its kind in the world to offer investors blockchain-enabled tokens rather than shares, which can be bought using several currencies other than the dollar including the euro.

Therefore, the company is hoping to attract investment from the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Eckhardt says the investment opportunity for investors is an opportunity to “participate early in our success while benefiting from the shift in our industry, driven by [both] technology, change in consumer behaviour and viable alternatives,” he says.

“Furthermore, our employees and agents will all become owners of the company through a progressive digital equity offering that aligns with our company’s commitment to innovation.”