PeerStreet, a real estate loan investment platform, has completed its Series B funding round on $29.5m.
The round, which was led by World Innovation Lab, saw contributions from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, Thomvest, Colchis Capital, and Felicis Ventures. New investors to PeerStreet included Solon Mack and Navitas Capital.
California-based PeerStreet connects lenders with investors to create real estate loans. The platform lets consumers to create an investment loan portfolio, with the ability set up automatic investing.
PeerStreet works by underwriting each loan through algorithms, big data analytics and manual processes to create high-quality investments. Private lenders, which are also vetted by PeerStreet, then complete this own due diligence on who they wish to lend to, consumers can then invest alongside the originators.
Last year, the company more than doubled its loan volume from 2016, and is expecting to continue this trajectory in 2018. To date, PeerStreet has funded more than $900m in loan volume, according to the company.
With this equity PeerStreet is hoping to broaden the types of real estate loans available and hire more staff to its team.
World Innovation Lab venture partner Steve Pretre said, “We believe PeerStreet’s approach of partnering with local, private real estate lenders is the optimal solution to create new liquidity for the existing real estate finance ecosystem.
“This approach lowers the marketplace cost for loan acquisition, and, most importantly, taps into the lenders’ unique knowledge of local markets and borrowers. This directly benefits investors by lowering both marketplace costs and loan risk. The result is a more efficient and effective marketplace for all parties.â€
As part of the transaction, Steve Pretre will join PeerStreet’s board of directors.
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