Shared Home Equity Startup Point Raises $122M Series B

Point, a California-based home equity and finance company, has raised $122 million in financing, $22 million of which came from a Series B funding round spearheaded by DAG Ventures and Prudential Financial, according to reports.

Financial Venture Studio, Ribbit Capital and Enterprise Community Partners also chipped in. The rest of the $100 million came from Kingsbridge Wealth Management. Point’s total capital is now in the neighborhood of $265 million.  

The company was founded by CEO Eddie Lim in 2015, with Eoin Matthews and Andreessen Horowitz partner Alex Rampell.

Lim said Point has raised $33 million in equity since its origin, and its origination volume has grown upwards of 10 times, year over year. He said the company is poised to fund more than 1,000 homeowners this year.

“We are witnessing the emergence of a whole new class of financial solution that is aligned with homeowners, and investors are taking notice,” Lim said. “2019 is proving to be a year of exponential growth for the company, and we expect that growth to continue as home equity investments open up critical liquidity for a lot more homeowners.”

Point offers customers up to $250,000 over a 10-year term, with no interest rates or monthly payments, for people who can pass a five-minute online screener. There’s also a risk adjustment of up to 20 percent to combat homes declining in value.

Pre-approved applicants get a provisional offer for between 5 percent and 20 percent of a home’s value. Point then schedules an appraiser (which costs between $500 and $700) and finalizes an offer. Because Point isn’t added to the title of the house, homeowners can buy it out, refinance or sell at any time. Homeowners also don’t need to get approval to do renovations outside of the home’s financing.

“This type of initiative is only possible because we’ve built a proprietary technology platform, which enables us to rapidly prototype and market-test new products based on the needs of homeowners,” said Lim. “Point’s emphasis on providing homeowners with an exceptional experience means we have to continue to build superior technology. Building great products that integrate finance and technology is what we do best.”