Seattle-based ValueAppeal, an online service that helps homeowners challenge their property tax bills, has added $1.6 million in financing. The startup had raised two rounds totaling about $1.5 million last year, mostly from angel investors.
ValueAppeal says the new money is mostly from existing investors, but they weren’t named. Founder and CEO Charlie Walsh says the fresh capital will be used for hiring, technology, and moving to a larger office.
ValueAppeal charges homeowners a flat $99 to use the service, and says it refunds the fee if a home-value appeal is unsuccessful. ValueAppeal says its figures show that about a quarter of U.S. homes are assessed at too high a value each year. That sales pitch is probably music to the ears of homeowners who have survived the worst housing market in decades.
Author: Curt Woodward
Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft.
Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem.
A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.
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