Santa Monica-based online real estate platform developer HomeLister Inc. has raised $4.5 million in seed funding led by venture capital firms MetaProp and Homebrew.

The funding, announced Dec. 8, will go toward the further development of an online platform allowing homeowners to sell property without the assistance of a real estate agent. The service guides users through the process of listing and promoting homes, showing them to prospective buyers, reviewing offers and completing the complicated closing process.

According to a company announcement, the funds will contribute to ramped-up marketing efforts and a planned website redesign.

“Our mission at HomeLister has always been to make listing and selling a home easy and affordable for homeowners,” Chief Executive Lindsay McLean said in a statement, adding that the new round of funding would allow the company to “bring the best possible home sale experience to more markets.”

HomeLister, which was founded in 2015, is now available to users in 13 states, as well as Washington, D.C.

The company boasts that it has saved users $17 million in agent commissions since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this yearHomeLister announced a mobile app that allows users to give live video tours to interested buyers rather than hosting an in-person showing.

The company charges customers a flat rate ranging from $599 to $2,699 depending on the level of service provided. At the highest price point, users are assisted by a real estate professional but still do not have to pay a commission following the sale of their home.

MetaProp co-founder Zach Aarons said in a statement that the venture capital firm “had been searching for a technology platform that could truly empower sellers with the digital tools they needed to transact efficiently.”

HomeLister, Aarons said, fit the bill, offering customers a platform that he called “simple and intuitive to use.”