Relm
Setting the Scene
Current online marketplaces for real estate listings are antiquated and inefficient for the modern buyer, renter, and agent.
Today’s platforms are:
Outdated: Major listing sites still rely on early-2000s search models, offering only basic filters that ignore nuanced buyer preferences and lifestyle needs.
Costly: Traditional real estate agents require hefty fees for services that can be largely automated.
Lack Personalization: Consumers sift through countless irrelevant listings and stale information.
This week’s company is an AI-powered real estate agent that enables consumers to efficiently find and acquire homes.
In a Sentence
Relm is an AI-powered marketplace that provides a commission-free, user centric platform to modernize how renters and buyers discover homes.
AI-Powered: Using natural language search, users describe their perfect home – lifestyle, design, neighborhood characteristics, and beyond – replacing traditional rigid filters to find exactly what they want.
Commission-free: Users connect directly with property listers, eliminating the costly side commissions and enabling consumers to better maintain control of the process.
Bulleted Version:
- Relm is your AI real estate agent, guiding buyers and renters through the entire home search process with personalized recommendations, real-time support, and commission-free connections.
The Basics
- Headquarters: NYC
- Employee Count: 8
- Investors:
- Funding amount: $1M pre-seed
- Business model: Starting with a freemium model for consumers and promotion fee for listing agents with expansion opportunities for closing sales/rental deals in-platform, and marketplace model (transaction fee)
- Early traction: 32K+ total users since launch, 1.67% search-to-lead conversion rate, 7.26x better lead conversion rate than top real estate listing portals, 43% multi-message user engagement
Due Diligence
WHAT WE LIKE
Market Opportunity: By eliminating buyer/renter-side agent fees, Relm puts control and savings back into the hands of consumers, disrupting the massive real estate transaction market that has long favored traditional brokers.
Beyond the Transaction: Unlike traditional platforms that focus solely on the sale or rental process, Relm’s AI continues assisting users after move-in, providing neighborhood insights and ongoing property support.
Growing Market Need: Regulatory shifts, including lawsuits against the National Association of Realtors (NAR), MLS challenges, and new legislation like New York’s FARE Act, are accelerating demand for alternative real estate solutions that prioritize transparency and efficiency.
POTENTIAL RISKS
Industry Pushback: The real estate industry is deeply entrenched, with powerful players like NAR, MLS networks, and large brokerage firms likely to resist commission-free models that threaten their existing revenue streams.
Consumer Adoption Curve: While AI-driven home search is the future, shifting consumer behavior away from traditional agent-led transactions may take time, especially for buyers and renters unfamiliar with a commission-free process.
Market Sensitivity & Cyclicality: The real estate market is highly cyclical, meaning demand for lead generation could fluctuate with interest rates, housing supply, and broader economic conditions.
Founder Profile
Evan Robinson, CEO: Previously head of growth at Medialink and political strategist.
Jack Reiter, COO: Ex-realtor at Coldwell, performance marketer at PetPlate, and growth strategist at Superbolt.
Illya Nayshevsky, CTO: Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry, Founded Alpha Inertia Capital, ex-engineer at People Data Labs and LIRO Group.
Comps
WithJoy.AI: Backed by various angels.
Flyhomes: Backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Andreesen Horowitz, Fifth Wall, Battery Ventures, Shasta Ventures and others.
Zumper: Backed by Goodwater Capital, New Enterprise Associates, LAUNCH, Headline, Kleiner Perkins, and others.
HelloReeve: backed by various angels.
Why Relm
By replacing outdated fees, inefficiencies, and friction in real estate with AI-driven simplicity, savings, and seamless transactions, real estate is entering a new Realm.
