Oro, a social fintech company that helps employers offer homeownership and housing wellness as an employee benefit, has raised $3 million in funding and officially launched its housing wellness platform, the company said.
The round was led by Slauson & Co., with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Bronze Valley. Oro is positioning housing as a missing piece in the modern benefits stack at a time when higher interest rates, elevated rents, and home prices are intensifying financial pressure for employees and creating retention and engagement challenges for employers.
Oro’s platform is designed to enable companies to offer housing support to employees at different life stages, including renters, prospective homebuyers, and current homeowners. The company said the offering provides concierge-style housing assistance, rent reporting intended to help boost credit scores, homebuyer education classes, access to down payment assistance programs, and guidance and referrals related to taxes, insurance, and home maintenance. Oro also said it works with employers to build financial support programs that can help employees with down payments, closing costs, interest-rate buydowns, or private mortgage insurance.
The company said its system is built to integrate with existing benefits programs with minimal operational burden and is intended to produce measurable impact on employee retention, engagement, and financial well-being.
Oro cited early traction from a pre-launch pilot program, saying it helped 8 employees become first-time homeowners and that it currently supports more than 1,200 employees through its housing wellness platform.
The company said it will use the funding to expand go-to-market efforts, grow employer adoption, and continue developing technology to scale housing benefits across diverse workforces.
Oro was founded by George Fatheree, described as an attorney-turned-entrepreneur and former Big Law partner. The company is a Delaware public benefit corporation focused on expanding employee access to homeownership and housing wealth by embedding housing support into the corporate benefits ecosystem.
KEY QUOTES
“Let’s face it, most companies have a gap in their benefits package – and it’s as big as a house. Home prices continue to peak and housing is the single largest expense most employees face, yet it remains absent from most benefits strategies. Oro’s leading a movement to change that.”
George Fatheree, Founder, Oro
“We believe housing is the next frontier in employee benefits. Oro is leading a new category by bringing housing support into the workplace at a moment when employers need smarter solutions to attract, retain, and stabilize their workforce. George’s passion for driving access to homeownership and his impressive track record delivering real impact in complex financial, business, and legal environments makes him perfectly positioned to lead the ‘Housing as a Benefit’ movement.”
Austin Clement, Slauson & Co.
