Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage Powered By the Same Underlying Technology
BELLINGHAM, WA–(Marketwired – July 19, 2016) – (OTCQB: EXPI) – Pokémon GO, the new mobile augmented reality game, has almost instantaneously become one of the most downloaded, most used and most talked about gaming apps in history. With its popularity spreading across a wide demographic, everyone from Justin Bieber to Ellen DeGeneres is searching for Pokémon wherever they go, and trying to catch them whenever they appear.
In the last two weeks alone Pokémon GO has significantly increased the enterprise value of a number of companies including Nintendo, Zagg, a maker of smartphone accessories, and Unity Technologies Inc. Unity3D, the underlying platform for Pokémon GO, is the same underlying technology which powers eXp World, the immersive 3D Campus for eXp Realty and related ventures.
eXp Realty has, since its inception in 2009, been able to successfully leverage virtual reality platforms in order to reinvent the agent compensation model. This has proven to be very appealing to enterprising agents and brokers and as a result eXp Realty has grown its agent base by more than 100% over the last 12 months.
There are certainly gaming elements to eXp Realty’s cloud-campus. However, instead of trying to find Pokémons, the company is able to leverage Unity3D for real work through 3D boardrooms, presentation theatres, offices, breakouts and more.
eXp Realty was the first real estate brokerage to adopt a 3D immersive environment to power what had previously been more traditional bricks and mortar offices. Through a massive research effort in early 2009, eXp Realty was looking for a way to collaborate with brokers and agents in multiple markets nationwide without having to invest in more traditional infrastructure.
Glenn Sanford, then Founder of eXp Realty and now CEO of eXp World Holdings, Inc. explained, “When we discovered immersive worlds to use in business we knew we had something and since then we have run the real estate brokerage almost entirely via a virtual world platform. Our staff, management, agents and brokers have fully embraced avatars for work, attend classes, strategize, collaborate, innovate, enjoy water-cooler chats, build teams, and share experiences. The close-knit community that we’ve been able to build over the years on our campus has distinguished us from ‘virtual’ brokerage models.”
Sanford further stated, “What we’ve found, and what is so gratifying, is that our agents, in many cases, experience more interpersonal interaction and engagement with their peers on our campus than agents at traditional brokerages. We continue to find new ways to use the underlying platform to improve community, collaboration and meaningful work for everyone involved.”
Earlier this year, eXp World Holdings, Inc. announced that it had signed an agreement with VirBELA, LLC, one of the leading developers leveraging Unity3D to create immersive online worlds for learning and collaboration. eXp Realty has already started to use “eXp World” which represents the third iteration of its cloud campus and offices. As part of its agreement, eXp World Holdings, Inc. (eXp Realty’s parent company) has exclusive rights to the VirBELA platform within the real estate industry and an option to exclusive rights within a number of vertical industries including mortgage origination, mortgage lending, title and escrow and title insurance.
eXp Realty has been growing rapidly since 2013 when it committed to making its agents and brokers the owners of its publicly-traded stock for production and for helping the company grow. The Company has grown its agent base by more than 100% during the last 12 months with more than 1,400 agents across the markets it operates in. Though seldom visited by consumers, eXp Realty’s Cloud Campus is a daily destination for its agents who use it to learn new ways to optimize the level of service that they can provide to their clients. They also benefit from greater income and wealth-building opportunities as a result of the efficiencies and cost-savings that the Company’s Cloud-based approach makes possible.
“We’re different from Pokémon GO in that we use our Unity-powered platform for business, working on behalf of consumers engaged in what is often the most significant transaction of their lifetimes — the purchase and/or sale of a home,” said eXp Realty CEO, Jason Gesing. “However, the power of augmented and virtual reality platforms like Unity will allow us to continue to build a culture of service, of entrepreneurship and of a shared sense of ownership, allowing our agents to develop meaningful personal and professional relationships with their colleagues from across North America right on our campus — attending concerts, baby showers, and birthday parties together; talking about their families; and, leaning on one another for support.”
About eXp World Holdings, Inc.
eXp World Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for a number of companies most notably eXp Realty LLC, the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage™ as a full-service real estate brokerage providing 24/7 access to collaborative tools, training, and socialization for real estate brokers and agents through its 3-D, fully-immersive, cloud office environment. eXp Realty, LLC and eXp Realty of Canada, Inc. also feature an aggressive revenue sharing program that pays agents a percentage of gross commission income earned by fellow real estate professionals who they attract into the Company.
eXp World Holdings, Inc. also owns 89.4% of First Cloud Mortgage, Inc. a Delaware corporation launched in 2015 and now licensed to originate mortgages in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. First Cloud Mortgage has positioned itself as a Planet Friendly Mortgage Company via the purchase of carbon offsets for homeowners offsetting the first year of the Carbon Footprint of the typical home on each mortgage originated through First Cloud Mortgage, Inc.
As a publicly-traded company, eXp World Holdings, Inc. uniquely offers professionals within its ranks opportunities to earn equity awards for production and contributions to overall company growth.
For more information you can follow eXp World Holdings, Inc. on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, or visit eXpWorldHoldings.com. For eXp Realty please visit: eXpRealty.com and for First Cloud Mortgage, Inc. check out FirstCloudMortgage.com.
The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update them. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s expansion, revenue growth, operating results, financial performance and net income changes. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in forward-looking statements include changes in business or other market conditions; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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