New York-based home-buying company EasyKnock acquired Seattle home maintenance startup Onder, combining two residential real estate-focused tech businesses.
Terms of the acquisition, announced Monday, were not disclosed.
Onder CEO and co-founder David Krieger told GeekWire the acquisition is a “positive outcome” for Onder investors, employees and customers. He said the company had been growing consistently since the beginning of the year.
“That said, the venture capital environment continued to be a headwind and we had been operating with very little margin for error,” Krieger said in an email. “[S]o when we evaluated the landscape with our advisors, it just made sense to include mergers and acquisitions as an attractive path forward.”
Onder is among a growing number of early-stage companies pursuing M&A amid a slowdown in venture capital funding.
The startup sells a subscription-based home maintenance service that deploys technicians to help with both interior and exterior tasks. Customers request help for HVAC cleaning, plumbing, painting, power washing, gutter cleaning, roof repair, and more. It covers more than 100 homes, and there will be no interruptions to services, Krieger said.
Founded in 2016 and led by CEO Jarred Kessler, EasyKnock offers a “sell and stay” program. The idea is to allow homeowners to sell their properties and continue living in their houses as tenants, converting their home equity to cash for various needs. Customers later have the option to repurchase their homes.
After the acquisition, Onder’s home maintenance services will be offered to EasyKnock’s customers. The company said it’s part of a broader goal of creating the “first nationwide property maintenance platform for homeowners.”
Krieger founded Onder in 2021 after spending nearly a decade as a senior director of product and strategy at Expedia. The company raised an undisclosed amount of capital including a pre-seed round in 2021 led by Rackhouse Ventures.
Krieger will join EasyKnock as its chief product strategy officer. Other Onder employees will also join EasyKnock. Onder employs less than 10 people.
EasyKnock landed $57 million last year, including investors Blumberg Capital, Gaingels, Moderne Ventures, QED Investors, and Viola FinTech. 75 & Sunny, a firm led by Zillow Group co-founder and former CEO Spencer Rascoff, is also a backer.
EasyKnock in May acquired Ribbon, a startup that helps homebuyers compete with wealthy individuals and institutional investors through all-cash offers.
Earlier this year, real estate transaction volume reached its lowest level in at least a decade amid elevated interest rates. Only 1% of the nation’s homes changed hands in the first half of the year, according to a July Redfin report.
