Pacaso, The Proptech Startup Founded By Zillow Alums, Raises $125M Series C

Proptech startup Pacaso has raised $125 million in a Series C round less than a year after the company launched.

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Pacaso helps people find and buy second homes that they co-own with others. Buyers are able to co-own places in popular second-home locations like Lake Tahoe, Breckenridge, Colorado, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Series C round brings the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion and comes as Pacaso marks its international expansion into Spain.

Pacaso, which was founded by Zillow alumni Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison, launched in October 2020 and reached a $1 billion valuation less than a year later with its $75 million Series B in March 2021. As Crunchbase News has reported, it is one of several funded startups founded by former Zillow employees and executive.

The Series C brings Pacaso’s total funding raised to $215 million.

The company’s mission is to make second-home ownership more accessible through co-ownership. About 65 percent of Pacaso’s customers are first-time second-home owners.

Second homes are underutilized assets, and a home sitting empty isn’t good for the economy or the environment, said CEO Allison. It means less housing supply, fewer people supporting local businesses, and a greater environmental impact.

“It’s better if we can make better use of existing resources,” Allison said. “It’s better for everyone.”

The new funding will be used for expansion and growth, according to Allison. In terms of geographic expansion, the company picked Spain for its first international market after evaluating where buyers wanted second homes.

“Spain is a market where a lot of people in Europe aspire to own second homes,” Allison said. “There’s a very diverse base of people that come from different parts of the world that are interested in owning in Spain, and it’s also just a very desirable place for second homes, which also tends to be an attribute for all of our markets.” 

Softbank Vision Fund 2 led the round, with participation from new investors Gaingels and proptech VC firm Fifth Wall. The round also included participation from previous investors including Greycroft, Global Founders Capital, Crosscut and 75 & Sunny Ventures, which was founded by Pacaso co-founder Rascoff.

Allison and Rascoff met with Fifth Wall in early 2020. Although Fifth Wall wasn’t ready to invest in Pacaso at the time, it continued to track the startup, according to Fifth Wall partner Dan Wenhold. 

Coincidentally, Wenhold had recently sat through an unrelated timeshare pitch and was interested in Pacaso’s different approach.

“They were taking a previously illiquid asset, which was a timeshare, and making it affordable for the masses, also making it attainable for folks who wanted to own a second home but previously weren’t able to,” Wenhold said. Picasso also reminded them of real estate platform Opendoor, which Fifth Wall also invested in.

In January, Pacaso had about 30 people on its team, and now has about 120 employees across 20 states and three countries. It’s also grown from serving 12 markets six months ago to about 25. It has an annualized revenue run rate of $330 million, according to Allison.

In the next year, the company plans to expand into other European countries, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias