ClosingLock, an Austin startup that has developed a secure platform to close real estate transactions, announced Tuesday it has raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by LiveOak Venture Partners with participation from RWT Horizons and GTMfund.
ClosingLock was co-founded by married couple Andy and Abigail White in 2017 after learning that title industry professionals often share wire transfer details via email — a platform where the bulk of wire fraud occurs, according to the company.
The following year, ClosingLock developed a secure portal and workflow platform to protect title companies against wire fraud. ClosingLock has since added document sharing, e-signature, secure wire instructions and loan payoff verifications to the platform.
ClosingLock currently has 13 employees — a number that could soon double with the fresh seed funding. White said he expects to hire about 10 to 15 employees across sales, customer success and product development.
The company has worked with more than 3,000 real estate escrow professionals across the country and hopes to grow its presence with its new capital.
“ClosingLock’s ability to build trust with buyers, brokers and title companies by securing the highest risk element of the transaction provides the company with a unique opportunity to build out a comprehensive platform for managing the entire transaction closing process,” Mike Marcantonio, a partner at LiveOak Venture Partners, said in a statement. “The industry’s exceptional response to this product in such a period of time is a testament to the magnitude of the problem and the ClosingLock team’s unique blend of product development expertise, domain knowledge and security focus.”
