Proptech UrbanX raises millions for real estate agents to fly solo

Queensland proptech startup UrbanX  has raised a multi-million dollar war chest as it looks to ramp up its disruption of the traditional real estate sales model. 

The round – the exact figure was undisclosed – was led by 29North co-founders Ross Hayward, Ben Korst, and Brendan Larsen, supported by Archie Douglas, co-founder of PRD Nationwide. Douglas will chair UrbanX’s board. M&A lawyer, Oliver Talbot, and self-confessed “IT nerd”, Gordon Tan, who both also invested, will join UX as non-executive director and CTO respectively.

It will also fund the next stage of the three-year-old startup’s IT platform, designed to help real estate agents work more efficiently.

Co-founder and CEO Dan Argent said his concept is the future of real estate and seeks revolutionise the traditional model by empowering Australia’s top agents to work for themselves and create their own unique brands.

He’s set a goal of rapid growth even faster as it aims to work with 20% of the top 20% of agents in Australia & NZ by 2030.

UrbanX (UX) is a white-label digital platform for high-performing agents to take care of everything behind the scenes such as marketing, administration, accounts and training so they can focus on what they do best: selling houses. 

Argent said that after working in the traditional model for a decade, he realised there needed to be a better way.

“What most people don’t realise is that agents don’t get a salary; they work on a commission-only basis, but when a commission comes in, the franchise takes 8-10% and the agency takes another 40-50%, leaving agents getting only 25% after tax & superannuation is deducted,” he said.

“By cutting out the middle men, the agents, we work with have their own independent businesses but without the usual hassles of running the business, including having to manage their own trust accounts. The best part is that they keep up to 90% of everything they earn.”

Argent, who founded UX in 2019, said the business is now on track to sell $3 billion worth of property, and is currently rapidly expanding throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory. It will also launch in the ACT shortly.