Better.com raises USD 160 mn funding, to hire 150 people in India by year-end

Better.com, an online mortgage platform in the US, on Wednesday said it has closed a USD 160 million (about 1,144 crore) funding round from Activant Capital, Ping An Global Voyager Fund and Ally Financial among others.

The series C round also saw participation from Citi, AGNC, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and American Express Ventures, who joined existing shareholders Goldman Sachs, Pine Brook, and Kleiner Perkins in the round, a statement said.

"The capital we've raised will enable us to accelerate our investment in product development, grow our strategic partnerships, expand our team and scale our platform to continue making it easier for borrowers to get home financing," Better.com CEO and founder Vishal Garg said.

Better.com said it has grown 3X year-on-year and is currently funding USD 375 million in mortgages a month in the US, which puts it on track to lend over USD 4 billion in 2019.

Better is a full-stack digital mortgage company which simplifies the process to purchase or refinance a home. It has offices in New York, San Francisco, Irvine, and Gurugram. It has raised a total funding of USD 254 million to date.

In the last eight months, Better has scaled its India employee strength from 50 to 300 people. Better's India operations play a key role in business operations, risk management, fulfillment and analytics.

To continue its growth, the company expects to hire an additional 150 people in India across various functions by the end of 2019, taking its team size to 450, the statement said.

"At Better.com, we are delivering a digital experience to our customers in a highly innovative and scalable way. Our numbers validate the customers conviction in our product, and we're looking for people to help grow it and be a part of this journey," Better.com Country Head (India) Bhavesh Sharma said.