CMBS.com

What CMBS.com does

CMBS.com, Inc. (operating under the Backshop and CMBS.com brands) is a Sausalito, California-based vertical software company founded in July 2000 by Jim Flaherty. It builds enterprise tools and data products for commercial real estate finance, primarily serving CMBS contributors, life insurance companies, rated servicers, banks (including CRE capital markets groups), GSE (Fannie Mae DUS / Freddie Mac multifamily) lenders, private equity / transactional lenders, affordable state housing authorities, and CMBS IRP data consumers. The company also addresses smaller owners and borrowers through a self-serve SaaS tier.

The platform centers on Backshop, a web-based CRE loan origination, management, and servicing system that was the first application to model the entire deal stack — properties, debt, and equity — without Excel as the primary medium. Its proprietary features include property valuation via direct capitalization and DCF, automated Loan-to-Value / DSCR / Debt Yield calculations, pipeline and workflow management, role-based security, and deal reports in PDF and industry-standard XML. Backstop's data moat is an integrated CMBS loan and bond database (originating from the 2005 acquisition of Conquest from Standard & Poor's), which powers comp searches, rate/term lookups, loan-level loss projections, and an IRP data API. In 2024 the company acquired CLOSER from SitusAMC, a hybrid Excel/online origination engine with an estimated 35% share of the GSE market and 20% of the CMBS market, and entered a mutual strategic partnership in which SitusAMC leverages Backshop for its U.S. asset management services.

Commercially, CMBS.com operates a tiered subscription model: CMBS Basic (free), CMBS Professional ($20/month or $200/year per user), Backshop Professional ($50/user/month or $500/year), and Backshop Enterprise (custom-priced with source-code access, self-hosting, system integrations, and flexible licensing on multi-year contracts). Go-to-market blends enterprise field sales, a self-serve product-led motion for the SMB tier, and inside sales via website contact forms. The company is privately held, was initially capitalized with $500,000 of angel funding in 2000, has not raised institutional venture or private equity capital, and discloses no revenue; combined headcount exceeds 30 following the 2024 CLOSER integration.

Name

CMBS.com

Legal name

CMBS.com

Website

https://cmbs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CMBS.com builds Backshop and CLOSER, web-based enterprise software for commercial real estate loan origination, management, and servicing, serving banks, life insurers, GSE lenders, CMBS contributors, servicers, and smaller borrowers via tiered SaaS subscriptions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Finance Software

NAICS

Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (522), Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222)

SIC

Asset-Backed Securities (6189), Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162)

akta.pro primary industry

Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS/CMBS) (FSACACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

CMBS Conduit Lending (FSALADAF), Real Assets — Real Estate Debt (Whole Loans, Mezzanine, CMBS/CLO) (FSAHAIAB), Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Platforms (HDAEALAE)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate software
• CRE loan origination
• CMBS data analytics
• Loan servicing platform
• Commercial mortgage technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Sausalito

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Software Licensing: Subscription-based software licensing with tiered pricing. Backshop for Enterprise offers custom configurations with self-hosting options. CMBS PRO offers affordable SaaS model for smaller players. Direct and SaaS licensing models available.
2. Professional Tier Subscription: CMBS PRO at $20/month or $200/year per user for smaller owners/borrowers. Backshop Professional at $50/user/month or $500/year.
3. Enterprise Licensing: Enterprise licensing with custom pricing based on requirements including third party access, source code, and flexible licensing terms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CMBS.com provides enterprise commercial real estate loan origination, management, and servicing software via its BACKSHOP platform, which was the first web-based application to model the entire deal stack from properties to debt to equity. The portfolio also includes CLOSER, a hybrid loan origination engine optimized for CMBS and GSE markets acquired from SitusAMC in 2024, and CMBS PRO, an affordable SaaS version of BACKSHOP priced at $20/month for smaller owners and borrowers.

Product overview

CMBS.com provides a multi-tiered product portfolio for commercial real estate finance. The core platform is BACKSHOP, an enterprise-grade loan origination, management and servicing system that was the first web-based application to model the entire deal stack from properties to debt to equity. CLOSER, acquired from SitusAMC in 2024, provides hybrid loan origination capabilities optimized for CMBS and GSE markets. CMBS PRO offers the same enterprise capabilities in an affordable SaaS model for smaller borrowers at $20/month. CMBS.com Basic provides free tier access to create standardized deals and access the CMBS loan database. A dedicated Borrower Reporting Tool automates quarterly servicer reporting for existing CMBS borrowers. All products support industry-standard XML data formats and work in Excel, online, or both.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BACKSHOP: Enterprise commercial real estate loan origination, management and servicing platform - the company's flagship product
• CLOSER
• CMBS PRO

Products and services

• BACKSHOP Enterprise commercial real estate loan origination, management, and servicing platform. First web-based software to model the entire deal stack from properties to debt to equity. Enables users to underwrite, value, and manage CRE loans throughout the loan lifecycle with workflow and pipeline management, DCF and direct cap property valuation, LTV/DSCR/Debt Yield calculations, and industry standard XML reporting.
• CLOSER Hybrid loan origination engine optimized for CMBS and GSE markets. Supports full deal-stack modeling including workflow management, pre-application quote analysis, processing and underwriting with Excel-based templates, closing tools, comprehensive reporting capabilities, and configurable role-based security access for unlimited roles.
• CMBS PRO Affordable SaaS version of BACKSHOP tailored for smaller owners and borrowers. Provides enterprise-grade tools at $20/month or $200/year per user (up to 5 users) with deal modeling, integrated CMBS data library, deal origination, document management, branded web pages, API integration, workflows, and CMBS reporting.
• CMBS.com Basic Free tier providing ability to create deals in standardized format, share deals privately with contacts and publicly in Marketplace, access deals shared by others, and access CMBS loan database for leads and comps.
• CMBS Borrower Reporting Tool Automated quarterly CMBS servicer reporting tool enabling borrowers to import loans from CMBS database, enter property and deal information, e-sign reports, and submit to servicers. Automates operating statement and rent roll submission processes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Automated quarterly CMBS servicer reporting reduces manual submission time
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SitusAMCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 August 2024Strategic partnership where SitusAMC transitioned ownership of CLOSER (CRE origination system) to CMBS.com. SitusAMC also leverages the Backshop platform for its U.S. asset management services. SitusAMC manages $433B+ UPB across U.S. and Europe. CLOSER supports ~35% of GSE market and ~20% of CMBS market. The partnership combines Backshop's origination, asset management and servicing capabilities with CLOSER's origination capabilities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• RealPage: Large CRE software incumbent with loan origination, asset management, and analytics modules used by CRE lenders and servicers; comparable in customer base to CMBS.com but broader in scope across multifamily, commercial, and residential real estate.
• CoStar Group: Dominant CRE data and analytics provider (LoopNet, Apartments.com, CoStar) with growing capital markets analytics; overlaps with CMBS.com on CRE comp data, market intelligence, and now commercial real estate finance workflows used by the same investor and lender customers.
• Yardi Systems: Large incumbent in CRE software with origination (Yardi Elevate), loan management, and servicing modules used by many of the same institutional lenders and life insurance companies as CMBS.com; broader portfolio across property management and accounting means less specialization in CMBS-specific workflows.
• MRI Software: Broad CRE and real estate loan management software suite used by banks, servicers, and CMBS market participants; comparable to CMBS.com's Backshop Enterprise in loan servicing and portfolio management but less focused on CMBS-specific deal-stack modeling.

Direct peers

• SitusAMC: Previously the owner of CLOSER and now a strategic partner of CMBS.com; SitusAMC provides loan origination, servicing, and asset management technology for the same CMBS/GSE customer base, including $433B+ in UPB, and is the most direct peer in CRE loan lifecycle software.
• Trepp: Leading provider of CMBS data, analytics, and loan-level research for CRE market participants; Trepp's CMBS loan and bond data library overlaps directly with CMBS.com's integrated CMBS data library and serves the same institutional investor, rating agency, and contributor customer base.
• Dealpath: CRE deal management and pipeline platform serving institutional investors, lenders, and brokerages; competes with Backshop's pipeline, workflow, and document management capabilities and serves overlapping enterprise customers in the CRE debt ecosystem.
• Altus Group (Argus): Provider of CRE valuation, underwriting, and asset management software (Argus Enterprise, Argus Loan); directly competes with Backshop's DCF/direct cap property valuation and loan-level modeling capabilities used by the same CRE lender and investor customer segments.

Emerging players

• Cherre: CRE data platform aggregating portfolio, loan, and market data for institutional owners and lenders; addresses the data and analytics layer overlapping with CMBS.com's integrated CMBS library and IRP data offering, with a more modern API-first architecture.
• Northspyre: CRE project management and data intelligence platform used by developers, owners, and capital markets teams; overlaps with CMBS.com's workflow and pipeline management features for smaller CRE borrowers and PE/transactional lenders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCVkOGCWJHz5oWtSRAosyzEw
• Facebookfacebook.com/cmbsmarketplace
• Instagraminstagram.com/cmbs.backshop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CMBS.com