Austin-based real estate mortgage software startup UpEquity has a fresh $25 million in the bank.
The company announced Feb. 11 a $25M series A funding round led by local VC firm Next Coast Ventures, which includes $7.5M million in equity and $17.5 million in venture debt.
The startup is led by co-founders Tim Herman and Louis Wilson, who got the idea while attending Harvard Business School. The startup helps homebuyers make all-cash offers and automates underwriting using computer vision. The company said it originated $100 million in mortgages last year and is active in Texas, Colorado, Florida and California. It went through the Y Combinator accelerator in 2019.
"Our goal is to finally align the mortgage industry with consumer interests,” Herman, who is CEO, said in a statement. “This funding is validation that consumers, real estate agents and venture investors understand the power of removing friction from the homebuying process, not only for personal advancement, but to attain the American Dream.”
UpEquity said it will use the money on business development "with market-leading real estate agents" and on product development. The company said it wants to get its time-to-close down to 10 days. Traditional mortgage approvals can take around 30 to 40 days, depending on the appraisal process.
UpEquity doesn't charge customers anything to make the all-cash offers. The company makes money off customers paying interest on the loans, with rates hovering around 2.5% right now. The company has done 300 deals so far — only two have failed, TechCrunch reported.
This story has been updated to clarify what UpEquity charges customers.
