Meet Point’s newest partners
March 20, 2019 - Building great financial products requires the backing of great partners — Point is no exception in this respect. Since the company's founding just over four years ago, we have benefited from the support of some of the most respected names in venture capital and investment management. Today, we are excited and honored to unveil some exceptional new partners who are committed to helping Point build the next generation of finance solutions for homeowners. Collectively, these new partners are behind $122 million in new financing for Point.
Kingsbridge Wealth Management is investing $100 million in new platform capital with Point, which goes directly toward homeowner investments.
"Homeowners with substantial home equity now have access to liquidity, without the burdens that come with debt financing," said David Dunn, Chief Investment Officer of Kingsbridge.
In addition to the platform capital investment from Kingsbridge, the Point team also shared details about a $22 million series B equity round. Investors in this round include two of the most celebrated impact investors in the nation, Prudential Finance and Enterprise Community Partners. Prudential Finance is 144 years young, holds $3 trillion of life insurance, and has repeatedly proven to be a pioneer in supporting US consumers' financial health. "Our investment in Point is one more way we're committing to helping consumers meet their goals and achieve lasting financial security," said Miljana Vujosevic, Vice President of Impact Investments for Prudential.
Since its founding in 1982, Enterprise Community Partners has invested over $30 billion to create over 500,000 housing units. “As a nonprofit committed to making well-designed homes affordable, Enterprise Community Partners knows that innovation in financing and technology must be part of the solution to the housing challenges facing our country,” said Laurel Blatchford, president of Enterprise Community Partners. “By investing in Point, we want to understand how access to lower-cost capital can improve housing stability, enabling homeowners to pay down higher-cost debt or maintain or improve their properties.
Another investor in the series B is DAG Ventures. DAG has been one of Silicon Valley’s most consistently successful venture firms. Its portfolio includes investments in the teams at Branch, Mint.com, Nextdoor, Oportun, WeWork, and Wealthfront, all of which share Point’s passion for creating community and opportunity. DAG also invested in Trialpay, the company that Point’s CEO and Co-founder Eddie Lim’s founded in 2006. Trialpay was acquired by Visa in 2015.
Ryan Falvey first gained exposure to Point when he was part of the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) team. Point was selected to the highly prestigious Finlab in 2017, the first company offering home finance solutions to be selected to "the Lab." Since then, Ryan founded the Financial Venture Studio, one of the premier fintech venture investment firms, and one of Point's new investors in its series B. "We are thrilled to be able to continue to support this team and their vision for a better home equity product," said Ryan Falvey.
When we started Point just over four years ago, it was with the critical support and belief of the teams at Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital, and Bloomberg Beta. Since then, these investors have participated in every financing round and continued to support Point through this series B round.
With these new partners bolstering our ability to serve homeowners, Point is better equipped than ever to realize its vision of a compelling alternative to debt-based consumer finance. We have built a formidable team of engineers, designers, underwriters, and account managers who make it easy for homeowners to choose home equity investments. Every week, we welcome talented new contributors to our team who inspire even more innovation.
“Enormous changes are imminent in consumer finance, and Point is at the forefront of those changes. This is the emergence of a whole new class of financial solution that is aligned with homeowners,” said Eddie Lim, Point’s co-founder and CEO. That’s a cause we can all get behind.
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Three things you need to know about Point
May 17, 2019 – Eddie Lim and Eoin Matthews founded Point to rectify a problem with home equity. Launched in 2015, Point offers Home Equity Investments (HEIs), an alternative to Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) and loans.
“Eddie and I spent a lot of time looking at the home equity industry and trying to figure out a better way,” Matthews said. “With Point, I think we’ve done that.”
1. It’s an investment, not a loan
Homeowners experiencing financial hardship might have tens of thousands of dollars in equity that they could use to improve their situation. However, they’re often unable to access this wealth. Traditional options like home equity loans and HELOCs have strict requirements, so they may not be an option without a pristine credit score.
By having more flexible approval criteria, Point helps more people unlock their home’s wealth. Since it’s an investment, there are no monthly payments. Instead, customers can pay Point back at any time during the ten-year term.
2. Homeowners have dedicated support throughout the process
Every homeowner has an Account Manager who helps them through the application. Account Managers answer questions and make sure potential customers are a good fit.
Most customers who make it past the application stage receive an offer. The process also includes underwriting and a home appraisal. Homeowners can get funds in as little as twenty days. Point continues to provide resources and support to customers even after they’re funded.
3. The funds can both eliminate debt and increase home value
Many of Point’s customers are looking to eliminate debt. The investment usually removes a significant source of stress and reduces their total monthly bill payments by an average of $1,413. Point is also an option for financing home improvements, including ADU funding. Customers looking to invest in their properties may be eligible for preferential pricing.
