As banks continue to partner with financial technology companies, digital mortgage application company Blend is hoping a major fundraising round will help create new partnerships.
Blend, which sells its white-label mortgage application platform to lenders, announced it has raised $130 million in Series E funding, bringing its total fundraising haul to $310 million. Singapore’s Temasek and General Atlantic led the fundraising round, while Founders Fund, 8VC, Greylock Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated.
Marc Greenberg, head of finance at Blend, said the seven-year-old company will use the money to expand its bank partnerships. The 400-employee company has partnerships with more than 150 financial institutions, including Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and Citizens Bank. Greenberg could not disclose the terms of the funding or the company’s current valuation.
Greenberg said Blend also will use the money to expand into new loan products, including auto and personal. “We see this as a complete consumer lending system of engagement for banks, credit unions and independent mortgage banks,” he added.
Blend is working on making the entire mortgage application process a one-tap experience, with application information pre-filled by the bank for the customer. Although Greenberg couldn’t give specifics, he said the one-tap process will be available to some customers by the end of the year.
Blend’s platform allows mortgage applicants to submit documents online; validate assets and income data through a secure sign-on; and co-browse with loan officers in real time. The company also sells white-label products in account opening, home equity and homeowners insurance. Blend processes about $2 billion in loans every day, and it originated $230 billion in mortgages last year. Brian Kneafsey, head of client operations, told Bank Innovation last week that Blend processes about 100,000 applications per month.
Blend faces nascent competition in the digital mortgage application process. Roostify recently announced a partnership with HSBC Bank USA, and JPMorgan Chase and TD Bank both use its digital mortgage application platform.
When it comes to keeping pace, Greenberg believes Blend is better positioned because it is better funded than Roostify, which has raised just $33 million to date. “We think our customers represent a larger portion of the overall market than theirs,” he said. “We definitely have a broader suite of products — mortgage, home equity and deposit accounts — and we’re building out the ecosystem for partnerships, including insurance, which I don’t think anyone else is doing.”






