DocuSign, an e-signature service, has raised $2 million from Second Century Ventures. The venture firm is the investment fund of the National Association of Realtors. This brings DocuSign’s total funding up to $30 million.
DocuSign, which was founded in 2003, allows companies to get legally binding signatures quickly over the internet instead of over the fax or mail. DocuSign certifies digital signatures over the web, acting as a intermediary who holds the documents and verifies the identity of the signature. The digital signature business was really opened up during the turn of the century with that passing of the UETA and ESIGN acts, which clarified the legal grounds for electronic signatures nationwide. To date, more than 48 million signature events have been executed using DocuSign and service currently has 2.5 million users.
DocuSign is seeing increased traction of its technology in the commercial and residential real estate spaces. Rather than driving across town to get a signature or forcing their clients to find a fax machine, real estate professionals use DocuSign to execute agreements with buyers and sellers electronically, eliminating the old process of printing, faxing, and waiting for the return fax. In an age where deals are increasingly made remotely, it makes sense for e-signature technology to be adapted in the real estate world. DocuSign is now the exclusive e-signature provider to the National Association of Realtors. The new funding will be used for further development of DocuSign’s technology for the real estate space. Competitors include EchoSign, and VeriSign.