NAB and IAG in $6m investment round in auto real estate start-up

PHOTO: ActivePipe chief executive Ashley Farrugia

A local real estate marketing start-up begun by a former motor mechanic and transport entrepreneur has pulled in funding from insurance giant IAG’s venture capital arm Firemark Ventures, NAB Ventures and the influential American National Association of Realtors (NAR), as its product starts to gain traction in the US market.

ActivePipe was founded almost five years ago in Melbourne by entrepreneurs Gavan Stewart and Ashley Farrugia, who created a marketing automation platform to analyse how engaged people were with email marketing campaigns.

It is used by real estate agents to predict which people in their networks are most likely to buy or sell a property.

The new $6 million investment round was led by NAR and Firemark via a convertible note, ahead of a planned larger Series B round later this year. NAB Ventures was an existing investor, which also bought in again, alongside Queensland-based PieLAB Venture Partners.