附近上门

The process of buying a home is one of the most stressful in a person鈥檚 life. A flurry of companies aimed at making that process easier has emerged over the past decade.

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One of those, mortgage tech startup , has $130 million which according to , puts the company 鈥渨ithin striking distance of 鈥榰nicorn鈥� status.鈥� (Note: I asked the company about its valuation but it declined comment)

and led the , which also included participation from existing backers , , , and . The round brings the company鈥檚 total funding since its inception in 2012 to $310 million. It last raised $100 million in a in August of 2017 at a pre-money valuation of $500 million, according to 附近上门 data.

Marc Greenberg, Blend鈥檚 head of finance, said the company鈥檚 SaaS platform 鈥渞outinely processes nearly $2 billion in loans every day in partnership with more than 150 lender customers.鈥� Essentially, this means that Blend鈥檚 鈥渨hite label鈥� technology is what powers mortgage applications on the site of banks such as Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank with the goal of making the process faster, simpler and more transparent. The company also recently announced it is branching out into new product lines including 鈥渄eposit account opening, home equity, and homeowners insurance.鈥�

Former CEO in January , running all the administrative and go-to-market functions for the company

鈥淲e see this fundraise as a huge validation of our approach and our business model and partnership with banks,鈥� Greenberg told 附近上门 News. 鈥淗aving Tim join the company is like another huge brick in the building block.鈥�

While he declined to comment on ARR growth or revenue figures, Greenberg told me that the company tripled its customer base between 2017 and 2018. It also has doubled its number of employees to nearly 400 today compared to the same time last year.

Looking ahead, he said the company will use the new capital to continue to invest in its mortgage product and 鈥渆xpand into the broader suite of consumer lending products鈥� with the goal of digitizing 鈥渢he entire mortgage process from application to close.鈥� Blend is also growing out its ecosystem of partners, such as companies that help it accumulate financial and credit information. The company will 鈥渃ontinue to hire aggressively,鈥� Greenberg added.

Blend also announced today the addition of its first independent board member, former Pixar CFO , who also is currently serving on the boards of Alphabet, Airbnb and Netflix, among others.

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