Backflip, a proptech startup that helps entrepreneurs invest in residential properties, announced today raising an $8 million seed round co-led by Vertical Venture Partners and LiveOak Ventures Partners, according to a press release.
The company says that it will use the funding to expand its product development team and accelerate its 2022 public launch in Texas and Colorado. It also noted it secured $27 million in dedicated debt funding, and that the round included participation from Revel Partners, Great Oaks VC and Greg Waldorf (former founding investor and board member at Trulia and Zillow).
In order to help solve America’s housing shortage and help “catalyze the much-needed rejuvenation of aging homes,” Backflip provides entrepreneurs an end-to-end platform to help investors source, analyze and finance residential real estate investments.
It says its application includes property insights, data, education and community insights that is paired with capital solution in order to help local entrepreneurs restore and modernize neighborhoods.
“We have a major housing problem. It won’t be solved by Government-led top-down approaches, or by large corporations like Blackstone, Lennar, and Opendoor,” stated Josh Ernst, founder and CEO of Backflip, in the release.
“Instead, following the Shopify platform model, we need to let entrepreneurs do what they do best – be creators. Backflip helps them make better investment decisions along the way, and to improve outcomes while reducing risk. By partnering with VVP and LiveOak, we can accelerate the rewarding journey of raising the standards of what is possible for our members and make a positive contribution to the world: creating desirable housing,” Ernst said.
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Since launching its private beta in 2021, Backflip says it has funded tens of millions of loans for its members to acquire and renovate homes. While the company is initially operating in Dallas and Denver, it says it embraces a distributed workplace model and currently has employees across the country.
As a result of the seed funding, LiveOak founding partner Krishna Srinivasan and VVP Managing Director Brad Corona will be joining Backflip’s board of directors.
“Real estate entrepreneurs looking to finance “fix & flip” and “rehab & rent” projects overwhelmingly rely on private capital solutions rather than conventional residential lending products. The market for private capital is enormous, yet opaque, hard to navigate, and lacking an end-to-end, digitized consumer experience. The single-family residential investment sector is ripe for Backflip’s unique offering,” said Corona in the release.
In other recent proptech news, Fairstead launched a $100 million investment vehicle aimed at affordable housing and sustainable development. Lev also secured $170 million in new funding, including a $70 million Series B led by First American‘s new VC brand Parker89.