The National Association of Realtors recently released information about REach, the strategic accelerator for technology startups created and managed by the NAR's investment fund, Second Century Ventures.

Applications to join the second-year class are being accepted and the deadline to apply is March 1.NAR's REach offers education, mentorship and market exposure for early-stage technology companies that wish to address the trillion dollar real estate market, and in doing so helps NAR fulfill its member mission of identify technologies and resources that will benefit the industry.

Applicants must have a platform to provide innovative products or services for real estate professionals or consumers, but need not be solely focused on the industry. Among the notable accomplishments in 2013 made by the seven, first-year program graduates are that the companies achieved significant user and revenue growth, with most companies achieving respectable sales and consumer bases in under a year; four out of the seven companies used inside insights from mentors and coaching to launch new products targeting the real estate industry; and five out of the seven companies landed major deals with one or more of the industry's top 10 national brands."The mentoring and access to potential clients from working with REach helped us grow our revenue and customer base dramatically in just six months," said Conor McCluskey, founder and CEO of BombBomb, a video and e-mail marketing company that was part of REach' 2013 class. "As a direct result, our video marketing technology is now used by Realtors® in all 50 states and 25 countries to help them be present for showings when they physically can’t be there. If the real estate industry is at all a focus for your startup, you should definitely apply to Reach."

Lauren Bunting is a licensed REALTOR®with Bunting Realty, Inc. in Berlin.

Lauren Bunting is a Broker with Keller Williams Realty of Delmarva in Ocean City, Maryland.