Further, a Washington D.C. startup helping homebuyers align their finances with home choices, has revealed the recent closing of a $4.1 million pre-seed funding round.
Co-founded by Caribou founder Kevin Bennett and real estate expert Chris Baker, Further’s backers include Cambridge, Mass.-based Link Ventures, New York’s FiDi Ventures, former Atlas Venture partner Jeff Fagnan, investor and Autom co-founder Ryan Moore, and Skillz founder Andrew Paradise. Other participants in the round included Germany’s Flex Capital Gaingels, Vesta Ventures and F4.
‘It’s Way More Complicated Now’
Further builds on Bennett’s focus on providing financial help to ordinary consumers. His Caribou helped users optimize auto loans, and homezen helped homebuyers. Bennett received an M.B.A. degree from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
“A generation ago, our parents bought a $200,000 home with a 20% mortgage, and it was very straightforward,” Bennett told TechCrunch, adding that the modern market is “just more complicated.” Homes are much more expensive now and there’s just a lot more complexity, and it’s a much bigger financial decision, he said.
Bennett also recounted a personal experience, when he was in his 20s, that caused him to sell a home for less than its perceived value because he ignored vital home improvements.
Free Calculator
“Our goal is to take care of the complicated jargon and stuff and really help you understand as easily as possible what it is you need to know, with transparency, obviously, but also putting you in the driver’s seat and in control,” Baker, who was previously head of product at EasyKnock, told TechCrunch.
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Last week, Further unveiled its first product – a financial calculator that helps homebuyers figure out what they can afford to buy or determine if it would be best to shore up finances and wait. The calculator uses several numbers including down payment, monthly mortgage payment, interest rate and closing cost to help identify optimal homebuying decisions.
Further’s calculator is free to use but users are required to join a waitlist to get access. According to TechCrunch, the company plans to eventually monetize the platform as it releases more products.
“My hope is that we can enable people with the right insights and information to make good decisions and plan for this really big part of their life in a way that gives them confidence, puts them at ease, and lets them focus on, you know, what they really want to focus on, which is kind of that dream of being a homeowner,” Bennett told TechCrunch.
