Tongo—a FinTech company realigning income and expenses for the commission economy—announced it has raised $7 million in seed funding. The company will use these proceeds to expand product and team in its initial market of real estate, where Tongo empowers brokerages to offer agents on-demand access to pending commissions, which they can use like a line of credit to grow their business & stabilize cash flows. The round was led by MetaProp, with participation from New Valley Ventures, Good Friends, Launchpad, Elizabeth Street, Red Bike, Lab Ventures and Entrepreneur’s Roundtable Accelerator. Tongo’s fundraising to-date is $11 million.
“Traditional credit products are not built for today’s commission economy. Their underwriting models prioritize steady, salaried incomes that work well with their monthly billing cycles. The combination of lower credit availability and strict monthly repayment generates an immense problem for tens of millions of self-employed people where income is more free flowing, such as in real estate and other commission-driven professions. It presents a huge opportunity for Tongo to create financial products that realign income and expenses,” said Tongo’s CEO Brandon Wright. “By effectively building a debit card for future income, Tongo gives agents an alternative to the credit ecosystem that reduces the volatile, cyclical nature of their income, and at the same time gives them a cost-effective source of capital to grow their business.”
Tongo partners with real estate brokerages to offer their agents flexible, real-time and low-cost access to future commission income long before closing via a card-based product. The Tongo Smart Card can be utilized wherever debit cards are taken, and funds can be pushed directly into one’s checking account. Once a commission is received, the borrower simply pays down the balance on their card. If a contract falls through, Tongo provides the borrower with the flexibility to pay down the balance the next time a commission is received. Tongo only gets repaid when an agent collects — whenever that happens next. Brokers no longer have to advance money to agents.
“The lumpy, irregular and uncertain nature of commission revenue defines the income patterns of many of the 3 million licensed real estate agents in the U.S., complicating their ability to invest in their businesses and manage personal expenses,” stated MetaProp’s General Partner Zak Schwarzman. “Tongo has developed a modern, elegant solution that eases this challenge, enabling agents to easily access future commission revenue on friendly, flexible terms with the swipe of a card. Tongo addresses a glaring gap in the consumer credit market for agents and is resonating equally strongly with brokerage firms, who are partnering with Tongo to offer a powerful and differentiated financial management solution that impacts their agents’ lives and wallets.”
“The commission economy is something real estate agents are intimately familiar with, and thousands of agents rely on transaction closings to provide commission income,” shared New Valley Ventures’ Managing Director Dan Sachar. “We know first-hand this growing part of the labor force needs better liquidity solutions to manage their budgets and lives. Tongo’s next-generation platform provides a modern and easy-to-use approach for real estate agents.”
ABOUT TONGO: Tongo works like a debit card on future income. Founded in 2021 by Brandon Wright, Luis Scull, John Macris and Patrick Waltinger, Tongo enables today’s real estate professionals to invest in their businesses—and themselves—all year long, privately, while commissions are still locked up. Tongo gets paid back when agents get paid. Tongo’s investors include leading names such as MetaProp, Good Friends, Launchpad, Elizabeth Street, Douglas Elliman via New Valley Ventures, Red Bike, Lab Ventures & Remarkable Ventures. To learn more, visit https://gettongo.com/
ABOUT METAPROP: MetaProp is a New York-based venture capital (VC) firm focused on the real estate technology (“PropTech”) industry. Founded in 2015, MetaProp’s investment team has invested in 150+ technology companies across the real estate value chain. The firm manages multiple funds for both financial and strategic real estate investors that represent a pilot- and test-ready sandbox of 20+ billion square feet across every real estate asset type and global market. The firm’s investment activities are complemented by pioneering community leadership including the PropTech Place innovation hub, MetaProp Accelerator at Columbia University programs, global events NYC Real Estate Tech Week and Propel by MIPIM NYC, and publications Global PropTech Confidence Index and PropTech 101.
ABOUT DOUGLAS ELLIMAN INC.: Douglas Elliman Inc. (NYSE: DOUG) (“Douglas Elliman“) owns Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, which is one of the largest residential brokerage companies in the United States with operations in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, the Hamptons, Massachusetts, Florida, California, Colorado, Texas and Nevada. In addition, Douglas Elliman sources, uses and invests in early-stage, disruptive property technology (“PropTech”) solutions and companies and provides other real estate services, including development marketing, property management and settlement and escrow services in select markets. Additional information concerning Douglas Elliman is available on its website, www.elliman.com.
