Tellus, which stylises itself as a smart savings platform powered by real estate, has closed its seed funding round on $16m.
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and follows a $10m SAFE (simple agreement for future equity).
Other participants in the seed round are All-Stars Investments, Alumni Ventures, Decent Capital, Vectr Ventures, West Arrow and Westwood Ventures. Also joining the round were notable angel investors, including the co-founders of YouTube, Lime Bike, and Sereno Group Real Estate.
With the funds, the smart savings platform plans to scale its team and enhance its platform.
Founded in 2016, Tellus was built to help more people and families have better control of their personal finances and address the widening wealth gap.
It stated that with inflation at a 40-year high, and estimates claiming the pace of inflation will have savings in 8.7 years, people need other avenues to put their money to work. Tellus is the alternative. It leverages US single family home loans to offer users higher yields than typical savings accounts, along with access to regular withdrawals.
It claims that its savings solutions pay on average up to 22-times more than traditional savings accounts.
The company generates yields by providing single-family loans to American borrowers in prime cities. Mortgages are overcollateralized and the interest is awarded to customers through the app.
Its app also helps users budget funds, set financial goals, and accelerate their savings, modernising wealth-building through real estate.
Tellus co-founder Rocky Lee said, “Tellus gives people access to savings opportunities through a method previously only available to the ultrawealthy: earnings from residential home mortgages.
“We built Tellus to bring together everyday consumers’ need for passive income and attractive rates.”
In other PropTech news, Landis recently closed its Series B on $40m. The company helps renters to become homeowners, by buying the house on their behalf.
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