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Venture Capital News: Unison Home Ownership Scores $40M

2018-06-26
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Unison Home Ownership Investors, the leading provider of home ownership investments, today announced its Series B raise of $40 million.
The round was led by F-Prime Capital, joined by Citi Ventures and Royal Bank of Canada. As part of the funding round, David Jegen, partner at F-Prime Capital, will join Unison's board of directors.

The investment underscores the growing consumer demand for alternative home financing solutions, as well as Unison's success in modernizing residential real estate for consumers and institutional investors. Unison has two programs: HomeBuyer increases housing affordability and purchasing power for prospective home buyers by doubling to quadrupling their down payment, and HomeOwner allows existing home owners to easily unlock a portion of their home equity without borrowing. Both programs enable consumers to use the money provided by Unison for up to 30 years without interest or monthly payments.

"I built Unison with home buyers, home owners and institutional investors top of mind and to bridge two massive needs: provide a form of capital for consumers and make residential real estate an investable asset class. In the build out, Unison was forced to ride out the market collapse, which only strengthened our resolve and solidified our belief that the platform could survive anything," said Thomas Sponholtz, CEO of Unison. "Now a decade later, we are the leaders in the home ownership investment category. We have brought together government officials, lenders, institutional investors and other thought leaders to solve America's home affordability crisis. By providing the only new way to finance a home since the mortgage was introduced in 1781, we are liberating consumers from debt-only solutions that have saturated the marketplace."

Unison has earmarked the capital to fuel growth in new and existing markets, build brand awareness, expand business operations, acquire new talent and further advance its technology platform.

"As housing affordability continues to decrease, especially in urban areas, Unison brings a new financial solution for home ownership that benefits consumers, lenders and institutional investors," said Arvind Purushotham, Managing Director and co-Head of Venture Investing at Citi Ventures. "We're excited to join Unison on its mission of providing home owners with accessible financing options."

Unison Series B funding closely follows several achievements, including a 1,000 percent increase in Q1 2018 YoY growth. In addition, the company recently expanded the availability of its programs, bringing its total reach to 22 states, and welcomed CMO Cari Jacobs and Head of Engineering Quintin Gomez to its management team.

About Unison Home Ownership Investors
Unison is the leading provider of home ownership investments, modernizing home financing through long-term partnerships. Unison works with lenders, regulators and institutional investors to integrate home ownership investing into the U.S. housing finance system. Unison HomeBuyer helps purchasers buy the home they want with less debt and risk, typically by doubling the down payment. The larger down payment makes it easier to qualify for a loan, increases buying power, lowers the monthly payment and/or allows a buyer to reserve cash. Unison HomeOwner provides current homeowners with cash to eliminate debt, remodel, pay for school, invest or as a cash cushion, without the added debt or payments of a home equity loan or HELOC.

Unison's platforms have received prestigious recognitions including the FinovateSpring 2017 and Benzinga 2017 Best of Show awards. Headquartered in San Francisco, Unison operates in 22 states plus Washington D.C. For additional information, visit https://www.unison.com.

About F-Prime Capital Partners
F-Prime Capital Partners is a global venture capital firm investing in life sciences, healthcare, and technology. Since 1969, F-Prime has worked closely with entrepreneurs and academics to create innovative solutions to some of the world's most significant challenges in healthcare and technology. For more information, please visit fprimecapital.com.
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