Clayton-based FinLocker, which has developed a financial app to help homebuyers, has raised $17 million from investors as it seeks to grow its revenue.
FinLocker said it raised $17 million in a Series B funding round that included backing from existing investors. The investors include Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN), a provider of mortgage insurance and other real estate services. Radian in January said it had invested an undisclosed amount in FinLocker. Its participation in the Series B round is a follow-on investment, said FinLocker President Brian Vieaux.
FinLocker has created what it calls 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. FinLocker's website says its clients include several lenders, including AmeriHome Mortgage, Delmar Mortgage and Amerant Mortgage.
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.
Vieaux said FinLocker is “focusing now on growth” with the closing of its Series B round, with plans to strengthen its technology and expand its client base. FinLocker said the new funding will allow it to add new components to its technology, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide users with personalized recommendations, credit management, budgeting assistance and loan qualification offerings.
As part of its partnership with Radian, FinLocker is integrating 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.
FinLocker’s roster of enterprise clients has doubled in the last 18 months, demonstrating its product’s market fit, Vieaux said. He said the company, which does not share revenue figures, also will use its Series B funding to target business development and revenue growth initiatives.
FinLocker will be “very focused in terms of where we add resources” with its headcount, Vieaux said, but added it plans to hire for roles in business development. FinLocker has 24 full-time employees, with about half based in St. Louis.
Higher mortgage rates and tight housing inventory have “been a bit challenging,” Vieaux said. However, he said he believes FinLocker’s technology is designed to help homebuyers grappling with those challenges. He noted the higher rates and tighter supply are making prospective homebuyers wait longer to purchase homes, making tools like FinLocker important to stay on track to be able to buy a home.
“Our product is positioned really well to serve that cohort and engage them in a longer period of themselves getting ready,” he said.
