Yesterday, RealtyMogul.com, the incredibly fast-growing real estate investment marketplace, announced a massive $35 million Series B financing round led by Sorenson Capital.
The company and its CEO, Jilliene Helman, intend to use this new financing to hire more technologists and data scientists and strengthen its robust technology platform, which uses big data to get smarter about risk profiling in real estate. The news was covered by several top media channels, including an article on TechCrunch by Anthony Ha titled Realty Mogul Raises $35M For Its Real Estate Investment Marketplace.
RealtyMogul.com is a Graduate of the Los Angeles Founder Institute.
Over the last 12 months, RealtyMogul.com has been on a tear, growing from 10 employees to 80. But really, the entire history of the company looks similar. In fact, just over two years ago, they secured their first deal: a $110,000 loan for a modest duplex in Compton, Los Angeles. Now the company has already helped fund 240 properties totaling more than $500 million in value, including high-end properties like the $31.5 million Georgetown Plaza complex in Washington D.C.
So how did Jilliene Helman lead the company to such incredibly fast growth? Let's take a look.
Jilliene's Journey
Jilliene Helman was raised by a business savvy family. Growing up, her father was a 40+ year entrepreneur, her mother worked in luxury real estate, and discussing business ideas at the dinner table was not out of the ordinary. As a teenager, she was already consulting for her father's business, and knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. Though her passion for business and innovation were inherent, determination also played a key role in her success.
Helman attended Georgetown University to major in International Business and Management, and during her time in college, she made it a point to broaden her horizons. Understanding the importance of a global perspective, she would go on to spend her junior and senior year on a backpacking journey to Beijing and a semester in Barcelona before returning home. After an internship with Rolling Stone magazine, Helman made her way back to the West Coast and joined a training program at Union Bank.
After the training program, Helman landed in the wealth management division, where she spent four and a half years. During this time, she gained crucial knowledge towards building her company by spending time with real estate brokers, lenders, and trust officers. Then, when the Jobs Act was passed in 2012, Helman saw a great opportunity for change in financing real estate.
Real estate is kind of the last industry to change typically - it’s very archaic.” - Jilliene Helman, CEO of Realty Mogul
As a CEO, lean on your Senior team. Help train them, and then trust in them to get the job done.”
In addition to leaning on her internal team, Helman also credits her external team - namely, her law firm and accounting firm - for helping to navigate the growth process;
We started with the best of the best firms and we continue to work with the best of the best. This is a key insight - DO NOT skimp on legal or accounting. Hire the best.”
Learn more about Realty Mogul and Jilliene Helman at RealtyMogul.com.
