Proptech startup Localize has shut down its U.S. operations, CTech reported.
The decision was made amid market slowdowns roiling the American residential market.
“Macro data, with an emphasis on interest rates as well as regulatory changes, are creating a deep crisis and uncertainty in the U.S. real estate market, which is currently at a two-decade low,” the company said in a statement.
Localize’s sister company, Madlan, will continue to operate in Israel.
Led by Omer Granot, Localize is a residential listings marketplace and data company. Localize’s most recent funding round, in 2021, raised $25 million, and it raised $70 million in total. Investors have included Pitango Growth and Israeli bank Mizrahi-Tefahot.
Localize was not immune to growing pains, including a dispute between two of the company’s founders, Amir Winstok and Asaf Rubin. In a court case, Winstok alleged that he was pushed out of the company and that he was witness to “chaotic and weird conduct in board meetings,” according to CTech. For his part, Rubin said Winstok was attempting to blackmail shareholders of Madlan.
In March 2020, Localize rolled out its first set of subscription-based agent tools. That came two years after the startup’s launch in New York City, where it billed itself as a data company armed with consumer insights into apartment buildings and neighborhoods.
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Prior to the launch of agent tools, Localize had just shy of 10,000 listings in the city as it battled against the area’s entrenched leader in the category, StreetEasy. The platform also operated in South Florida, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
It’s been a challenging week in the proptech world. Days ago, VTS cut roughly 20 percent of its workforce. The startup reached a valuation of $1.7 billion in 2022, but its bet on a return to office has yet to pan out.