The acquisition will help OJO launch Lever by Movoto, which the company describes as an all-in-one technology platform for individual agents.
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Real estate technology company OJO announced on Tuesday that it has acquired agent-focused technology company The LEAD Syndicate and will use the new acquisition to launch a new all-in-one platform and rebrand.
The new platform will be called “Lever by Movoto”. In a statement, OJO describes the platform as “providing a complete suite of solutions to handle agents’ marketing, supplemental lead generation, database management, deal management, and comes with training and accountability solutions to ensure agents ultimately Success.”
Chris Heller, OJO
In a call with Inman, OJO President Chris Heller explained that the goal of the new platform is to help individual agents who are not looking to join a team but are not low-level producers on the verge of being eliminated. industry. He added, “This group in the middle is a very large group.”
The statement goes on to describe Lever as a “comprehensive support system” that allows agents to retain their brand.
The launch of Lever also comes as OJO undergoes something of a rebranding that will make Movoto the company’s public face. The OJO name remains, but its relationship with Movoto will be similar to that of Meta and Facebook or Alphabet and Google – parent companies that oversee public-facing brands.
“With the launch of Lever, OJO is making the strategic decision to bring all of its products under the Movoto brand,” the statement added.
OJO initially pioneered the introduction of artificial intelligence into real estate, and has since grown to offer a range of services, including the acquisition of home search site Movoto in 2020.
Nikki Miller
The acquisition of The LEAD Syndicate is a key part of Lever’s launch. Nikki Miller founded The LEAD Syndicate in 2020, explaining to Inman over the phone that she was a solo agent who found she wanted to grow her career, but also didn’t want to join a team or cobble together makeshift tech online. solution. Her own. Eventually, she founded The LEAD Syndicate to provide agents with a single platform that they could deploy in a variety of situations.
The LEAD Syndicate says on its website that it handles lead generation, marketing, transaction and database management, among other tasks.
Like Heller, Miller said the pool of intermediary individual brokers who complete deals but don’t join a team is large and underserved.
“Nothing was built for them, nothing was optimized for them,” Miller told Inman. “We wanted to have another way for them to be able to grow.”
The companies did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition. Miller will remain with the company as vice president of agency platforms. When asked about the acquisition, she said she was already working with OJO and the new deal represented a “natural partnership.”
“I’m excited to join the incredible teams at OJO and Movoto to launch Lever,” Miller added in a statement.
When asked about Lever’s pricing, OJO declined to provide specifics, pointing to its agency website.
Heller is optimistic about Miller and her company coming on board.
“OJO and Movoto have long been a favorite among real estate professionals, and Nikki’s uncanny ability to help agents grow their businesses is a perfect complement to our existing programs at OJO,” Heller said in a statement.
The new acquisition and branding come amid significant disruption to the real estate industry. After the market’s early days of the coronavirus pandemic, rates have steadily increased and transaction volumes have declined in 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, new entrants such as CoStar are trying to disrupt the status quo in areas such as home search — where OJO also competes through its Movoto site.
John Berkowitz
In a statement on Tuesday, OJO noted that despite “market headwinds,” its “agent network and programs have continued to grow in size over the past year.” The company debuted a referral network for top agents in 2020 and launched two new lead generation programs last year targeting high-performing teams.
In the statement, company founder and CEO John Berkowitz also expressed optimism about the future.
“We are focused on ensuring that the millions of consumers who come to Movoto actually find or sell a home, which often starts with finding a great real estate professional,” said Berkowitz. “Partners like Nikki Miller ensure that agents continue to be our A key part of the company’s growth story and I’m delighted to have her on board.”
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