Palo Alto, California-based Point announced it raised $122 million — of which $22 million was in Series B equity and $100 million was in platform capital commitment. The $22 million Series B round of funding was led by Prudential Financial and DAG Ventures. New investors that participated in this round include Financial Venture Studio and Enterprise Community Partners. And existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital, and Bloomberg Beta also joined.
Kingsbridge Wealth Management participated in the equity round and is providing a $100 million platform capital commitment. This brings Point’s total platform capital to more than $265 million.
Point is a fintech platform company that allows homeowners to unlock home equity wealth without taking on new debt. With this model, Point has built up a portfolio of home equity investments that validates the consumer need for the product. And the proof of concept culminated with a $150 million platform capital investment from Atalaya Capital Management last year. Now Point serves customers in 13 states as the District of Columbia.
“Point is seeing significant demand for its home equity investment (HEI) solution. We are witnessing the emergence of a whole new class of financial solution that is aligned with homeowners, and investors are taking notice,” said Point co-founder and CEO Eddie Lim. “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’s origination volume has grown over 10x compared to the same period one year earlier as homeowners are turning to Point for alternatives to traditional home equity loans, HELOCs, and cash-out refinances.
“We know that many Americans are overburdened by debt, and too many households face impossible tradeoffs when it comes to prioritizing long-term investments like saving for retirement, paying for a child’s education and buying a home,” explained Prudential’s VP of Impact Investments. “Our investment in Point is one more way we’re committing to helping consumers meet their goals and achieve lasting financial security.”
This new investment round will support a considerable expansion for Point as it makes its product available in over 30 states by the end of 2020 and reaches 70% of U.S. homeowners. The company is expecting to fund in excess of 1,000 homeowners in 2019.
“Kingsbridge is excited to be a capital partner with Point in providing innovative non-debt financing solutions for homeowners,” added Kingsbridge chief investment officer David Dunn. “Homeowners with substantial home equity now have access to liquidity, without the burdens that come with debt financing.”
Recently, Point started offering longer-term home equity investments to select homeowners. And investors and consumers have responded to this model with enthusiasm. Point will be expanding access to its 30-year product offerings this year — which is expected to act as a further driver of growth.
“We back entrepreneurs who are bringing fresh solutions to stale markets, and Point is a great example of a company that’s doing this really well,” said Financial Venture Studio managing partner Ryan Falvey commented. “We are thrilled to be able to continue to support this team and their vision for a better home equity product.”
