Nima Ghamsari
Today we have the pleasure of announcing that Blend has raised $100 million in a new round of funding led by Greylock Partners. We’ve found a great partner in Greylock, not only because they’re one of the top venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, but also because of their history of success in helping take technology companies to the next level. We’re also excited to welcome Emergence Capital to our roster of investors; their deep understanding of industry-specific cloud technology makes them a great ally for Blend. We also very much appreciate the continued support of many of our existing investors who participated in this round.
Eugene, Erin, and I started Blend five years ago to bring simplicity and transparency to consumer finance. We saw the impact of the complexity of the industry: paper-heavy processes and decades-old technologies leading to poor experiences, limited access, and asymmetric risk. There was a clear opportunity to leverage technology and data the right way to drive transformation in the industry. We knew modernizing a massive and heavily-regulated industry would be no easy feat, which is why from the beginning, we’ve been focused on building things the right way, creating a sustainable culture and maintaining a high bar for talent.
Financial services is not an industry that has traditionally attracted top tech talent. This has led to the industry largely being underserved by Silicon Valley for years. But, at Blend, we’ve done a lot of work driving awareness of the need for innovation in financial services and made the company a place where top talent wants to work and can make an impact.
Fast forward five years — we’re a team of nearly 200 people and are working with 30 financial institutions to power a more frictionless, accessible, and compliant home lending ecosystem for their consumers. We’re bringing consumers to the forefront of the lending process instead of having them adapt to it as they have in the past. The industry is evolving, changing, growing, and improving, and as drivers of that, we need to do the same.
And this is just the beginning. The opportunity for our technology in the $40+ trillion consumer lending market is huge, but the industry won’t change overnight. To realize our goals, we need to continue scaling and bringing together the best talent, partners, and backers to get us to the next level. Today’s news is an important stepping stone, and we’re excited to continue working closely with our customers to drive a better, more accessible lending experience for borrowers across the country, and eventually, the world.