Auto refinancing startup MotoRefi is moving its headquarters from Arlington to D.C. and beefing up its executive team, the company said in an announcement.
The company has signed a 22,000-square-foot lease at 1717 Rhode Island Ave. NW, relocating to a larger space as its workforce continues to grow. It plans on opening the new office, in the same building as venture firm Revolution and Uber, later in 2021, it said.
The relocation and the company’s growth follows a $10 million funding round MotoRefi announced in January. That round was led by Moderne Ventures, and followed a $9.4 million raise announced in February 2020.
MotoRefi recently told our sister paper the Denver Business Journal that it was looking for roughly 20,000 square feet there to serve as its "HQ2."
Former LiveSafe executive Dan Morrison is also joining MotoRefi as its vice president of product. Former Uber executive Aaron Fagan is joining as senior director of analytics and former Optoro Inc. executive Casey Fraser will join MotoRefi as chief of staff, the company announced.
“This investment in senior, high-caliber talent showcases our commitment to rapid growth and building a world-class, mission-driven fintech company,” MotoRefi CEO Kevin Bennett said in a release. “Each of these individuals bring a unique, critically important skill set that will prepare MotoRefi for the next phase in our journey.”
The company said in January that it grew to more than 150 employees in 2020 and refinanced $250 million in auto loans in the same period. It also said it grew revenue by six times in 2020, but declined to state exactly what its revenue was or where it started from.
MotoRefi was incubated in 2017 by local fintech venture firm QED Investors — which was founded in 2007 by Capital One Financial Corp. co-founder Nigel Morris and is staffed with a bunch of former Capital One execs. The refinancing startup previously completed a $4.7 million seed round in April 2019.
The company has also received backing from venture firms such as Accomplice, Link Ventures, Motley Fool Ventures, CMFG Ventures (part of CUNA Mutual Group), Gaingels and FireBolt Ventures, among others. The company estimates the auto refinance market totals about $1.2 trillion.
Bennett has been an executive at a number of local startups, including serving as co-founder and CEO of residential real estate transaction platform HomeZen, director of strategy and operations at LiveSafe and in roles at Opower and Personal Inc.
