Acquisition of Stake in Rechat, a Lead-to-Close
Agent Workflow Platform, Brings Innovative Tool to Douglas
Elliman
Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) today announced the launch of New
Valley Ventures, an investment vehicle seeking opportunities in
next-generation technologies in the property technology (PropTech)
space. New Valley Ventures will invest in promising PropTech
startups committed to supporting rapid transformation of the real
estate industry for the benefit of the agent experience.
In connection with the launch, Vector Group also announced New
Valley Ventures has acquired an ownership stake in Rechat, a
lead-to-close fully-mobile technology dashboard for real estate
agents. New Valley Ventures’ affiliate, Douglas Elliman, is the
largest residential real estate brokerage firm in the New York
Metropolitan area and the sixth-largest in the United States.
“We are incredibly excited to introduce New Valley Ventures to
the PropTech industry,” said Richard J. Lampen, Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer of Vector Group. “We look
forward to putting our capital and deep industry knowledge to work
to bring exciting and innovative tech-driven solutions to our
colleagues at Douglas Elliman as well as the greater real estate
community.”
New Valley Ventures will consider companies of all sizes,
supporting their development with in-depth real estate expertise
and helping them enter prime domestic real estate markets. New
Valley Ventures has also invested in Camber Creek, a venture
capital firm whose portfolio includes startups such as Notarize,
Curbio, Flex and Darwin Homes, and MetaProp, a venture capital firm
with investments in startups such as Milo Credit and Skipp.
“I am thrilled about this initiative and confident it will
further enhance agent productivity,” said Scott Durkin, President
and COO of Douglas Elliman. “In partnership with New Valley
Ventures, our agents will now be at the forefront of emerging
technologies that will make them better, faster, more productive
and ultimately, more successful.”
New Valley Ventures is being spearheaded by Dan Sachar, who
serves as its Managing Director as well as Vice President of
Enterprise Innovation for Vector Group. Sachar works in partnership
with both Vector Group’s Chief Technology Officer David Ballard and
with Douglas Elliman’s Chief Information Officer Connie
Mui-Reilly.
“We are witnessing a generational shift in how real estate
professionals work, and with that comes a new set of expectations
for innovation and experiences that provide ease, mobility and
nimbleness. Our objective is to free agents to do what they do
best, which is to sell real estate,” said Sachar. Ballard added,
“It is not just about us being innovators, it is about being able
to identify emerging technologies early and benefit from them. In
turn, we provide start-ups with invaluable intelligence from
Douglas Elliman’s 7,000 agents across the United States."
“When we identify a service from an early stage business that we
believe agents can benefit from, we are willing to invest in them,
aligning our interests with those of our agents, while helping
these companies to innovate at start-up speed,” said Ballard.
“We are grateful for our new partnership with New Valley
Ventures and Douglas Elliman and their confidence in our
transformational product,” said Shayan Hamidi, Founder and CEO of
Rechat. “I look forward to welcoming them to the Rechat
family.”
Rechat will revolutionize the way real estate agents and
managers work and includes a robust customer relationship
management (CRM) system that helps real estate professionals
organize their client rosters, manage communications and prioritize
responses, syncing with Google Mail and Outlook. It also allows for
marketing automation for social media, email blasts and digital and
printed collateral materials.
Other important features include a modern open house experience,
helping agents save time and effort on scheduling, designing
marketing templates, managing listings and capturing leads. Its
online and offline registration pages allow attendees to simply
flow into a database, maximizing outreach and offering automated
responses.
Also important is the real-time MLS search and alerts feature
allowing users of Rechat to provide fast, accurate and consistent
data to share with clients more efficiently. Additionally, Rechat’s
fully-mobile platform allows for easier listing and transaction
management operations, streamlining the process of completing
forms, managing documents, updating pricing and chasing down
signatures.
Rechat will be strategically rolled out to all Douglas Elliman
agents during the first half of 2021.
About Vector Group
Vector Group is a holding company for Liggett Group LLC, Vector
Tobacco Inc., New Valley LLC and Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC.
Additional information concerning the company is available on the
Company's website, www.vectorgroupltd.com.
About Douglas Elliman Real
Estate
Established in 1911, Douglas Elliman Real Estate is the largest
brokerage in the New York Metropolitan area and the sixth-largest
in the U.S. With more than 7,000 agents, the Company operates
approximately 105 offices in New York City, Long Island, The
Hamptons, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida,
California, Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas. Moreover, Douglas
Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight
Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets
spanning 60 countries and six continents. The company also controls
a portfolio of real estate services, including Douglas Elliman
Development Marketing, Douglas Elliman Property Management and
Douglas Elliman Commercial. For more information on Douglas
Elliman, as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the
real estate industry, please visit www.elliman.com.
About Rechat
Rechat is a first-of-its-kind PropTech company that offers an
all-in-one, integrated platform to simplify and streamline a real
estate professional’s workflow, from start to finish. Founded in
2015, the fully-mobile data-driven online platform provides all the
necessary tools for individual agents and brokerages to identify
prospects, generate leads and drive sales through innovation,
integration and automation. With customizable solutions and ease of
accessibility, Rechat is built for real estate professionals by
real estate professionals. Learn more at www.rechat.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005588/en/
Vector Group Benjamin Spicehandler/Columbia Clancy
212-687-8080
Douglas Elliman Real Estate Stephen Larkin 212-891-7042
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