Fintech startup and SoftBank-backed mortgage lender Better.com going public via a $7.7 billion SPAC deal

Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are all the rage these days. In 2021 alone, there are 315 IPOs, according to data from the SPAC insights website, SPACAnalytics.com. Digital mortgage lender Better.com becomes the latest startup to join the SPAC frenzy.

The New York-based fintech startup Better.com announced Tuesday that it is going public via a SPAC deal with Aurora Acquisition Corp. in a deal that valued Better at $7.7 billion. Better was most recently valued at $6 billion following an April 2020 investment from SoftBank. We wrote about Better.com back in 2019 when the startup raised $5 million in funding from Citigroup to continue to expand operations and its business reach.

A blank-check company sometimes called a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is a shell company that has no operations but plans to go public with the intention of acquiring or merging with a company utilizing the proceeds of the SPAC’s initial public offering (IPO).

Better.com now joins a growing list of high-profile companies that have gone public via the so-called special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). “We are pleased to partner with Better, an emerging market leader with proven executive management led by Vishal, an attractive business model and a highly scalable digital platform,” said Aurora Chairman Thor Björgólfsson in a press release.

Founded in 2016 and led by CEO and Vishal Garg, CEO, Better.com democratized the home-financing ecosystem, replacing it with a digitized process that eliminates commissions, fees, unnecessary steps, and time-wasting branch appointments.

In addition to providing mortgage rates in seconds, Better.com’s platform offers a digital marketplace featuring competitive quotes from an array of insurance providers for the seamless purchase of a homeowner’s insurance policy and instant access to leading real estate agents across the country. Since its inception five years ago, Better.com has done $7.9 billion in home loans and $1B in insurance.