Mortgage start-up Better.com closes $160m Series C
Digital mortgage fintech Better.com has closed its Series C fundraising round at $160 million, reports Jane Connolly.
According to Crunchbase News, this takes the start-up’s valuation to “north of $600 million”.
This takes the start-up’s valuation to “north of $600 million”
Existing shareholders Goldman Sachs, Pine Brook and Kleiner Perkins were joined in the round by Activant Capital, Ally Financial, Citi, AGNC, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and American Express Ventures. Total funding to date now comes to $254 million.
Better.com was founded in 2016 after founder Vishal Garg lost out on a property sale to an all-cash buyer due to a “slow and antiquated traditional mortgage process”. The company digitises the entire mortgage process, claiming to typically cut the industry average mortgage closure time down by 50% – from 42 days to 21 days.
“Similar to how Amazon upended the retail industry, Better.com is digitally disrupting the $15 trillion mortgage industry through best-in-class technology, a commission-free business model and first-rate customer support,” says Vishal Garg, CEO. “The capital we’ve raised will enable us to accelerate our investment in product development, grow our strategic partnerships, expand our team and scale our platform to continue making it easier for borrowers to get home financing.”
The disruptor says it is funding $375 million in mortgages per month and is on track to lend more than $4 billion in 2019.
Better.com has seen rapid growth, hiring 550 new staff and moving its headquarters to 7 World Trade Centre in the last year. It also opened new offices in two California locations in 2018 and in Charlotte, North Carolina this month.
The company plans to add 400 more sales and technology staff by the end of the year.
