UpEquity closes $25M Series A funding to disrupt the legacy homebuying process in the $33.6 trillion U.S. housing market

UpEquity, an Austin, Texas-based startup and a provider of tech-enabled mortgage platform creating a better way to buy a home, today announced it closed $25 million in Series A funding. The round, which consists of $7.5 million of equity financing and $17.5 million of venture debt, was led by Next Coast Ventures.

UpEquity plans to use the new capital infusion for product development and business development with market-leading real estate agents and to further reduce their time-to-close to 10 days.

Founded in 2019 by Tim Herman and Louis Wilson while they were attending Harvard Business School, UpEquity was created out of a passion to solve the broken home buying process. The duo later graduated from Y Combinator’s Summer 2019 accelerator program. The young startup enables consumers including first-time homebuyers to capture the power of all-cash offers; automates underwriting and democratizes homeownership in the $33.6 trillion U.S. housing market.

Commenting on the funding,  UpEquity Co-Founder and CEO Tim Herman said: “Our goal is to finally align the mortgage industry with consumer interests.” Herman added, “This funding is validation that consumers, real estate agents, and venture investors understand the power of removing friction from the home buying process, not only for personal advancement but to attain the American Dream.”

In the competitive national real estate market, cash offers close faster and remove the risk of financing falling through. Homesellers are more likely to accept cash offers, which save buyers between 1-4% of the home sale price versus financed purchase offers.

UpEquity provides buyers with free cash offers, boosting purchasing power even for first-time homebuyers. Instead of requiring buyers to have an existing house for sale, which is the current PropTech industry-standard, UpEquity provides both a cash offer and a mortgage. Automated underwriting, powered by a proprietary blend of computer vision and algorithms, ensures low mortgage rates and fast closing.

“As real estate continues to evolve in the face of limited supply and tight competition, UpEquity is at the helm of PropTech’s growing capabilities,” said Thomas Ball, managing director at Next Coast Ventures. “Most innovation has focused on the front end, but until now, nobody has expedited what happens after the borrower submits an application. UpEquity has the team, talent, and technology to not only succeed but to disrupt and emerge as the leader in the mortgage lending marketplace.”