Lone Wolf Technologies, a real estate service provider offering an end-to-end technology suite for agents and brokerages, announced its purchase of LionDesk and HomeSpotter Tuesday morning. The acquisitions will supplement Lone Wolf’s already impressive back-office solutions, adding front-end marketing technology and customer relationship management (CRM) data streams.
“These acquisitions embody our mission to simplify real estate,” Jimmy Kelly, CEO of Lone Wolf said in the announcement. “We’re bringing the best technology together to dramatically simplify the work that agents and brokers do every day.”
Kelly says by purchasing HomeSpotter, a marketing technology provider, and LionDesk, a CRM platform, Lone Wolf is “bringing the best technology together to dramatically simplify the work that agents and brokers do every day.”
“But this is more than just connecting the dots,” he said. “From lead to close to commission, we’re helping agents and brokers get a leading edge in a competitive marketplace and elevate the real estate experience they provide to buyers and sellers today.”
HomeSpotter is a Minnesota-based “real estate relationship engine” provider, which currently reaches over 500,000 real estate agents in North America and is integrated with over 300 Multiple Listing Service’s (MLS). It offers three solutions known as Connect, Spacio and Boost, which provide provide agents with automated digital marketing for listings, an online client collaboration platform and front-end MLS mobile app.
Robert Weber, Managing Partner at Minneapolis-based Great North Ventures, told FinLedger that the HomeSpotter acquisition creates a comprehensive solution for real estate brokers.
“Lone Wolf already developed a compelling suite of solutions for the back office of brokers,” Weber said, highlighting the company’s existing core technologies. “The acquisition of HomeSpotter adds dominant front-of-the-house capabilities for marketing and sales technology.”
The acquisition is also notable for Minnesota’s fintech sector. Weber believes it is another sign that financial technology is on the rise in Minnesota’s two largest cities, citing Sezzle, a buy now, pay later company that has plans to go public domestically (it already trades on the ASX exchange); ClickSwitch, an account switching SaaS company acquired by Q2; and Branch, a Great North Ventures portfolio startup that offers earned wage access.
“The Twin Cities’ fintech scene is below the radar, but rising quickly,” Weber said. “The ecosystem here is so much more robust than 20 years ago.” Of course, acquiring, cultivating, and motivating talent plays a crucial part in building a successful startup ecosystem in any region, and it’s a role that HomeSpotter’s CEO naturally came into.
“Aaron Kardell was able to prosper by recruiting an all-star team,” Weber told FinLedger. “[He] is one of a couple dozen leaders who helped build up a strong foundation in our local community by creating a collaborative and action-oriented culture.”
LionDesk is a customer relationship management software provider, currently used by over 165,000 real estate professionals in the US. The software utilizes artificial intelligence to enable lead follow-up and consolidate video, email, text and voice call channels into a consolidated system.
Weber believes LionDesk’s CRM data will add insight into Lone Wolf’s existing infrastructure and improve HomeSpotter’s front-end capabilities.