Stoa
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Stoa was a Phoenix, Arizona proptech company founded in 2017 by Or Agassi, Tom Sella, and Jonathan Saragossi. Its FlipOS platform helped professional real estate investors buy, renovate, and sell homes faster, pairing the software with low-rate lending and a guaranteed post-renovation purchase offer with a five-day close.
02 / Stoa FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Stoa raised almost all of its $300 million - $100 million in equity and $200 million in debt - in less than a year between late 2021 and mid-2022, at the very peak of the housing market. When interest rates rose and the iBuyer economics turned, the company slashed its workforce by 80%, from about 100 employees to 20, and acknowledged an uncertain future while saying it was considering several deals. The capital-intensive flip model could not survive the market turn it had just raised into.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Company founded
Or Agassi, Tom Sella, and Jonathan Saragossi found Stoa in Arizona to build an iBuyer platform for real estate investors.
- Peak funding round
Stoa completes about $300 million in total funding ($100M equity, $200M debt), including a $100 million securitization underwritten by Cantor Fitzgerald.
- Workforce reduced
After the raises, the company cuts its workforce by 80%, from about 100 employees to 20, and says its future is uncertain with several deals under consideration.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Raised $300M in under a year at the housing-market peak
- 02
iBuyer economics broke as interest rates rose
- 03
Workforce slashed 80%: about 100 employees to 20
- 04
Future declared uncertain; deals under consideration