Hybrid agent Yopa has had another £20m pumped into it.
The owners of the Daily Mail, who were already investors, led the latest funding round via its venture capital arm, dmg ventures.
It brings the total amount of funding that Yopa has had to an astonishing £75m.
It is also backed to the tune of £20m by LSL Property Services, owners of Your Move and Reeds Rains. It announced its investment last September, saying the objective was to create value for both LSL and Yopa shareholders.
Savills is another backer, chipping in first £16m and then an undisclosed amount to a second fund-raising round.
Savills has also supported the latest funding round, through its investment arm Grosvenor Hill Ventures. There is no suggestion that LSL also contributed.
Yopa was launched in 2015 by Daniel Atta and Andrew and Alistair Barclay, grandson and son of Sir David Barclay who owns the Telegraph along with his brother Sir Frederick.
Yopa will use the cash to expand its network of local property experts and increase market share.
Yopa says it is looking to shake up the traditional estate agency model, and hopes to overtake Purplebricks by offering ‘no sale, no fee’ as well as a fixed fee service.
Manuel Lopo De Carvalho, CEO of dmg ventures, said: “Yopa is a stand-out performer in dmg ventures’ portfolio and we are thrilled to support Ben Poynter and his team. dmg ventures backs innovative start-ups at the intersection of consumer, media and technology, and Yopa is a great example of how we can bring our experience and media understanding to bear for young companies seeking to build consumer brands.
“DMGT has a long-term approach and history of investing in early-stage businesses, having helped to create what became Zoopla from investments we made in the early 2000s. We’ve closely followed the dynamics of the property market and believe that technology-driven consumer demand will move estate agency transactions from the high street to online hybrids such as by Yopa.”
Simon Shaw, chairman of Grosvenor Hill Ventures, added: “Following a year of substantial growth in market share, and focus on client service, we are delighted to support Yopa as it develops into a substantial player in mainstream UK residential agency.”
However, one expert commentator told EYE that Yopa is now on its fourth set of creative advertising in two years, the latest featuring Mo Farah, and that the marketing cost of acquiring each listing was a ‘horrendous’ and ‘unsustainable’ £3,000.
It also looks as though there may be some key vacancies at the business.
Last week, a campaign to recruit a new chief operating officer was launched both online and with head-hunting by the Daily Mail’s head of talent acquisition.
In April, it was announced that Daniel Attia, who had been CEO, had become chairman.
He was succeeded as CEO by Ben Poynter, formerly chief financial officer. It is not known whether a new chief financial officer has been appointed.
Yopa’s former chief marketing officer Gav Thompson left in May after just 13 months. His successor is Philippa Heywood who joined from Moneysupermarket.
Comments (25)
Of course the real problem with all of this is that the central company controls all of the advertising spend and if it is not working who do the lexperts turn to.
Earning only a few quid from each job doesn’t allow them to invest for themselves in their local market, leaving them doomed to failure.
One more thing.
While we are on bashing the hybrid agent
Daily mail readers are mainly (judging by their adverts) in their 70’s and 80’s
This is the one market sector more unlikely to want to use a hybrid agent because they are less confident dealing with strangers in their own home and rely on the agents intervention in all aspects of the sale.
So Yopa might do well to keep away from daily mail readers when it comes to marketing.
More money than…..?
Of course…… “Sense” doesn’t come into it!
Think of someone “relieving” themselves by the side of the road….. instead of ?!*%ing it’s simply a steady flow of Millions of ££££££££’s.
Posted this in the past but in case anyone missed it:
YOPA backward is APOY.
APOY meaning in Filipino is Fire, Flame, Conflagration, Intense anger, Pilot flame, Spark.
Conflagration meaning: An extensive fire which destroys a great deal of land or property.
Perhaps APOY would have been a better name as this company does appear to burn up a lot of other peoples money and charge some users for an unsuccessful transaction for which, I feel sure, causes some of these intense anger as they may have to pay two agency fees?
So where does that leave Emoov in the Wacky Races of advertising expenditure in a bid to be seen as the second city.Is it Manchester or Birmingham behind London . More like a case if its Upper or Lower Gornal
What is apparent is that the ,monies raised in Emoov’s crowdfund is just going to disappear down a black hole
Lol, continuing the theme, I analogise onliners efforts so far in 2018 with ” catch the pigeon ” with the pigeon being investors cash, Nab him! Jab him!, Tab him!, Grab him! Catch That Pigeon Now!!!!!!!!!!
As an agent of 27 years and still in the industry i can honestly say i am seeing more and more of Yopa’s boards coming up in the area i work and live and a lot do seem to sell and a few are still for sale, but no more than any other agent on the high st. Their agents do seen to be more easier to deal with when in chains with them, which is definitely not the case with PB agents. The photos are great ( well in my area they are ) again not like PB and it does seen the ones i speak to are experienced agents. It looks like they are well funded and out of the Hybrid world of different agents springing up are the ones i dont mind having in a chain of mine. The local guy for my area is a well known guy who has worked locally for years and is quite well respected. I know it is easy prey to knock this new world of agency but a lot of clients i speak too when touting their stock love the fact they could choose between upfront or no sale no fee with no pressure from the local agent to pay upfront. cant argue with that i guess.
Im sure this is not the case with every agent who works for Yopa or indeed any of the other ones but in my area he seems to be building a great business and has very good sold ratio and is winning instructions based on his sold boards and has a good reputation and seems to be getting a lot of recommendations.
I now consider him a true competitor and dont with PB as easy to attack their for sale to sold board ratio and never are able to get hold of the local PB guy when we have chains together.
Hard to say but i cant knock them in my area at the moment and am having to up my game which is good as i didnt have too with many of the other local high st agents.
From a Basingstoke and Tadley agent in Hampshire.
Obviously just a YOPA agent writting this dribble. Also might want to have a look at your spelling, i hope you take more care writing your adverts. Just a quick look at the YOPA website and your disguise is easily blown. Fair play to you sticking up for your company but please look beyond at those who have departed and see what really is going on.
This is someone writing their own obit surely!!
Nice try YOPA LPnonExpert
its funny really that he/she wanted to ‘fight’ for YOPA and defend them but also felt the need to hide behind the disguise of an high street agent. its questions really how proud they are to be working for YOPA?
lets just say i do know the guy and have worked with him in the past for a corporate company and can say he is a good agent who is doing well that is all. Its a joke all these key board warriors trash every competitor when they probably need to look closer at themselves. In our town there is so many agents and as one of the ones doing well i can only commend other agents that are doing well when so many may of well just close their doors and just rely on their basic salary as their income. I work for a franchise now by the way.
still not willing to admit your franchise is working under YOPA? come on Vype don’t be ashamed .. admitting you have a problem is the first stage
Am I looking at this too simply ?
Why would traditional High Street Agents put £mil’s of investment in what is a competitor ?
Surely this money is better spent in their own digital offering ?
A nasty, spiteful rag read by the type of people you wouldn’t want to sit next to on a train.
Are you referring to the DM?
I am indeed.
Could not agree more, it is a vindictive publication with mainly nasty and bitchy contributors.
It deserves to fail and is surely backing a loser here.
The daily mail have their finger on the pulse of society and (obviously) the property market.
As far as society is concerned daily mail’s position is bordering far right wing, brexit etc.
And as far as the property market, the patient, (yopa) hasn’t a pulse.
So I salute you daily mail people with two fingers.
In 3 years i have seen no more than 4 YOPA boards. over take purplebricks. yeah right!
surely the DM cannot see the further investment as a real investment. its more like saving face to protect the Barclay Offspring. Their senior management ‘stability’ is more like throwing people down a black hole… you get there and then you are pushed. They keep haemorrhaging staff and money… time to stop this merry go round.
As for Tim Muir i wonder where he is these days, a product owner turned COO, who claims to have come up single handily with the whole concept of LPE’s, funny that considering they had estate agents in the business but it is he who is the mastermind behind it all.
We have commissioned some original research looking across the online-hybrid operator space and their current listings, percentage stock sold and average time to sell. We will be publishing it to trade press after our interim results on 12th September. Given that our investment IN TOTAL to date is £9m in EweMove we hope it won’t make shabby reading!!
If they had to invest their own money they wouldn’t bother.
Yopa days are also numbered.
Let the disruptors keep disrupting each other.
Has anyone ever seen a Yopa board on a property? Anywhere?
Yes one, erected against a road name sign on a mainish road, referring to a house down a cul-de-sac……which I understand is illegal!!!
“Yopa, seriously, Why bother?”
Yeah – good luck with that…