Clayton-based FinLocker, which has developed a financial app to help homebuyers, has received investment from a public traded mortgage insurance firm.
Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN), a provider of mortgage insurance and other real estate services, said Thursday it has invested in FinLocker. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The investment links together two companies each focused on providing technology designed to help consumers as they prepare to purchase homes. The companies said they plan to integrate their technologies to expand the scope of each.
FinLocker has created a “financial fitness app” that collects users' financial data to help them prepare to purchase a home. The app helps with building credit, budgeting and storing financial documents. FinLocker offers its app to mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions, which white-label the software and provide it to their customers. For lenders, the software aims to provide the ability to generate leads.
In 2020, FinLocker announced a $19.8 million Series A funding round, with investors in that deal including St. Louis-based venture capital firm Cultivation Capital, Chicago-based credit reporting agency TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) and St. Louis-based investor SixThirty. FinLocker has 24 full-time employees, with about half based in St. Louis.
FinLocker plans to integrate its app with Radian’s homegenius business, which includes a platform that provides an array of real estate services to consumers, lenders and real estate agents. For prospective homebuyers, homegenius includes a home search tool, educational resources, title services and the ability to connect to real estate agents.
“Now when a consumer is using this combined experience and searching for home on homegenius and they’ve already gone through the FinLocker experience, they’ll know what properties are in there budget and which ones they can afford,” Brian Vieaux, president and chief operating officer FinLocker, said in an interview. “It’s bringing together the financial readiness experience with the active search for real estate online.”
Through the partnership with Radian, Vieaux said he believes FinLocker and homegenius provide tools that allows lenders, regardless of size, to best serve customers.
“We’re effectively giving mortgage companies of all size technology that to date only the largest have had access to,” he said.
Vieaux said integration of the two products is underway, with the first phase to be completed in the first quarters of 2024.
“We see great potential in FinLocker’s business, both in its mission and its customer-driven approach, and together we can make homeownership more accessible,” said Eric Ray, senior executive vice president, chief digital officer and co-Head of homegenius. “We are excited about this investment and the opportunity to offer FinLocker’s services to both Radian and homegenius customers."
In addition to mortgage insurance, Raidan provides title, valuation, asset management and real seta agent services. The firm, headquartered in a suburb of Philadelphia, had 2022 net income of $742.9 million on revenue of $1.2 billion. Its homegenius business had revenue of $110 million in 2022.
While a significant portion of Radian’s investment will go toward integrating FinLocker and homegenius, Vieaux said the financing will also be used to grow the company and enhance its technology further.
“We’ll be adding additional resources to our team, not just in the product technology side but also in business development, sales and marketing."
