Mortgage Startup Lenda Raises $2 Million To Make Refinancing A Home Easier

Tech companies who’ve long overlooked the home lending market and as fertile ground for new business are waking up to the opportunity in the market and money — and new offerings are pouring in.

One of those players, Lenda, which launched last year with a seed round of over $1 million, has raised another $2 million in its latest round of financing.

The round, led by Lakestar with commitments from existing investors Rubicon and 500 Startups, will be used to continue to expand its business.

Lenda launched from 500 Startups in the summer of 2014 and has since processed over $60 million in loans for homeowners in California, Washington, and Oregon.

The company has further expansion plans in place for next year, according to a statement.

Using Lenda’s software, would-be borrowers can compare loans, receive a credit report, upload documentation and check their loan status in real-time.

The company reduces time-to-close from two months to two-and-a-half weeks, according to a statement and can reduce borrowing fees by an average of $20,000.

Homeowners can complete a refinancing application within 45 minutes from a computer any time of day or night and have their loan funded in under three weeks, says chief executive Jason van den Brand.

“After looking at over 50 real estate technology companies worldwide, Lenda is now our third investment in the space. We love their product and customer-first approach and their 20 percent monthly rate of growth is exceptional for such a young company,” said Manu Gupta, General Partner at Lakestar, in  a statement.

Lenda’s new financing should provide the company with a little bit of firepower as new competitors emerge in the online lending space.

Just today, Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans company launched its own foray into online mortgage lending with, Rocket Mortgage. Which the company touts as the “iPhone” moment for the mortgage industry.

Perhaps, with Lenda and other mortgage startups on the market, the Android competitor has already been established.