Second Century Ventures, the investment arm of the National Association of Realtors, announced its 2026 REACH cohort on May 28, naming the startups it’ll spend the next year pushing into the industry through NAR’s membership network, mentor relationships and market access.
Since 2019, REACH has expanded well beyond its original U.S. residential lane into commercial and global programs, with a total portfolio now topping 375 companies worldwide.
The 2026 class is Ai.realestate, Association Online, BrokerBot, LotRoll, MaxHome.ai and StackWrap.
This year’s cohort is notable less for any single name and more for what the cohort, taken together, says about where brokerage operators think real estate’s real problems still live: compliance burdens, fragmented data, HOA transaction delays and a manufactured housing sector that’s largely been left offline.
From HOA data to manufactured housing
The clearest thread running through the 2026 class is brokerage infrastructure.
BrokerBot is an enterprise AI platform handling admin, compliance, training, and real estate agent guidance. MaxHome.ai is a transaction intelligence play aimed at automating compliance workflows and reducing manual operational lift.
StackWrap wraps existing brokerage tech stacks — tools brokers already pay for — into a single dashboard with visibility into agent adoption rates.
That’s three of six companies essentially betting that the back office is still broken enough to build a business around.
The other three are a bit more targeted. Ai.realestate, which markets itself as AiRE, centralizes unstructured internal data and pairs it with property, mortgage and client intelligence. The pitch is a living database for sales teams, not a point solution.
Association Online focuses on a narrower problem: HOA data and transparency at the closing table, a notoriously delayed step in many residential transactions.
Ashley Stinton
LotRoll may be the most niche of the group, bringing data and infrastructure to the manufactured housing market, which REACH describes as “one of housing’s most overlooked segments.”
“Whether focused on streamlining complex workflows and notoriously fragmented datasets, building and improving infrastructure, or creating transparency and access, each of these six solutions harnesses the power of modern technology to elevate the level of service and connection between clients and the real estate professionals who serve them,” Ashley Stinton, managing partner of NAR’s REACH, said in a statement.
‘The real problems AI is solving for’
It’d be easy to read the 2026 cohort as an AI class. Several of the companies rely heavily on the label in their marketing. Stinton’s framing deliberately sidesteps that, and it’s worth noting she means it.
“REACH has accelerated the growth of numerous AI solutions for the industry, and we will continue to lean into AI,” she told Inman. “We also want to cut through the buzz-worthiness and emphasize the real problems AI is solving for.”
The REACH program has backed AI-native companies before. Stinton pointed to Courted.io, which pitches AI-driven brokerage recruiting and performance tools, and QwikFix, which uses AI to generate real-time repair quotes from inspection reports, as examples of prior portfolio companies delivering “tangible return” rather than just AI positioning.
What it takes to make the cut
Application volume was consistent with prior years, according to Stinton, though a higher share this year was AI-centric. She noted significant volume in consumer communication and transparency tools, as well as in real estate media and visualization products, categories she attributed to ongoing regulatory and policy shifts in the industry.
More than one hundred applicants applied during the formal application window, according to Stinton, and REACH reviewed hundreds of companies throughout the year in advance of the application cycle.
What doesn’t get selected, she said, is typically pre-product companies. REACH’s stated standard is demonstrated product-market fit and initial traction. The reasoning is straightforward. A program designed to accelerate growth at scale doesn’t have much to offer a company that hasn’t launched yet.
“We want to ensure products, their teams and their organizational structure are ready for the significant scale we can provide,” Stinton said. “It’s not just about a quick lift in revenue but sustainable acceleration of their business during the program and well beyond.”
Stinton added that pre-product companies typically aren’t selected “not because we aren’t interested in concepts, but because the resources the REACH program delivers will have the greatest impact on companies post-launch.”
“Many of the companies not selected have very strong potential, and we will consider them for future cycles,” she said.
An ecosystem of collaboration
When asked about prior REACH companies, Stinton said some of the most pleasant surprises are when founders build strong relationships within the REACH portfolio early on.
“Fundraising is grueling, selling is a grind and competition is fierce, so it’s important we create an ecosystem of collaboration and empathy where founders support each other, and the industry, as much as we support them,” Stinton said. “The companies that have leveraged our portfolio community and our extended community of mentors and industry partners have been among the most resilient and capable throughout every market condition.”
Stinton pointed to Real Grader as an example.
“Alex Montalenti, founder and CEO of Real Grader, leans in at every event and with every connection,” she said. “He has quickly become a top thought leader in helping real estate professionals optimize their digital presence, which is critical as consumers increasingly leverage social media and AI search to get connected to an agent.”
Stinton added that Real Grader is now also uniquely available to hundreds of thousands of Realtors through brokerage, association and MLS partnerships.
What needs disruption and what doesn’t
REACH has set unique goals with each company, but Stinton said the overarching success for this cohort would be an improved experience throughout the real estate transaction for consumers and agents, as well as for the supporting ecosystem across brokerage, mortgage, title, and home services.
“We are confident this group of technologies will deliver more transparent transactions, increased access, improved interactions and, ultimately, create better outcomes for each relationship,” Stinton said.
Success also means providing clarity around the role of AI and the tangible results it offers to real estate.
“When everything is labeled AI, it distracts from identifying meaningful value,” Stinton said. “Let’s challenge the status quo, and let’s do it fast. But let’s do it right. That means being clear about what truly needs disruption versus what already works well. The industry could use dynamic stability right now.”
