San Francisco-based startup Blend has set out to help financial institutions that are getting inundated with refinancing requests as a result of the pandemic, and investors are taking notice.
The fintech startup raised $75 million in a Series F, the company announced on Wednesday. The round, led by Canapi Ventures, brings the company’s valuation to $1.7 billion.
The lending platform provides banks, lenders and consumers with a digital closing solution for mortgages and home equity loans. Using data-driven process automation, the company aims to eliminate and automate tasks for conditioning, fulfillment and closing. Blend connects borrowers, loan teams, settlement agents and real estate agents all on one platform in order to streamline application processes and close deals faster.
“When I started Blend with my co-founders, we focused on building a product that would help facilitate simplicity and transparency through data and digitization. A platform approach was key,” Nima Ghamsari, CEO of Blend, said in a statement. “It would allow us to serve the process end-to-end, guiding both customer and lender through a typically complex process, including eligibility, data collection and verification, and third party integrations.”
The additional capital will be used to accelerate product development and increase access to Blend’s financial services. Last year, the company expanded its range of financial offerings to include consumer banking with the introduction of auto loans. More recently, the company partnered with M&T Bank to help process loan applications for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.
“It’s our goal to help top financial institutions serve their customers frictionlessly,” Ghamsari said in a blog post. “In the new age of seemingly daily changes around us, enabling our customers to achieve digital agility and stay ahead of their customer needs is a big undertaking.”
Blend works with more than 250 financial institutions including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank to collectively process more than $3.5 billion in consumer loans per day, according to the company.
“We’re more committed than ever to serving our customers, who are helping millions of their consumers find much-needed savings by refinancing their homes,” Ghamsari said.
Blend has added more than 100 new employees to its team this year and the company is currently hiring for dozens of open roles across multiple departments.
Additional investors General Atlantic, Temasek Holdings, 8VC and Greylock participated in the round, among others. Blend has raised a total of $365 million in venture capital to date, according to Crunchbase.
