Adam Neumann Invests In Tech-Enabled Mortgage Startup
Valon Mortgage, formerly known as Peach Street, has obtained $50M in a Series A round of funding led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, known as "a16z".
Other investors in the round include Jefferies Financial Group, New Residential Investment Corp. and 166 2nd LLC, which is the family office of former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann.
The $50M funding round is a large sum for such a new company, "even by today’s standards," TechCrunch reports. Valon, which was founded in the summer of 2019, previously raised $3.2M in seed capital from such investors as AlleyCorp, Kairos Venture Investments, Soros Fund Management and Zigg Capital.
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae approved Valon's bid to service its home loans, and Valon now aims to increase its total portfolio of serviced mortgages from $30M to $10B by the end of 2021, Bloomberg reports.
The company will use its own software and other tech to service residential mortgages, a process that includes collecting payments on behalf of a lender and providing guidance to borrowers about the state of their loan.
"Traditional mortgage servicers use antiquated technology and provide poor service to borrowers," Valon CEO Andrew Wang told TechCrunch. "Valon looks to change that dynamic by providing transparency and full self-service capabilities to homeowners."
The company estimates that its software might reduce mortgage-service costs by as much as half by automating much of the process. Valon also asserts that its methods will, for borrowers, mean no more insufficient funds fees, 30-day waiting periods for escrow inquiries or even the necessity of making a call when it is time to get a loan payoff quote.
Adam Neumann has mostly been out of the public eye since being ousted from his position at WeWork in late 2019, though if Apple TV+ plans for a limited series about him and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, come to fruition, a television version of their story will reach viewers in the near future.
Actors Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway have committed to star in the series as the Neumanns. The show, called WeCrashed, is to be created by TV producers Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello and produced in-house at the tech giant's recently opened Apple Studios.
"The eight-episode drama will follow the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of start-up WeWork and the narcissists whose chaotic love made it all possible," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
