Mortgage fintech Perch closes $4M Series A to accelerate growth

Perch, a Toronto-based mortgage fintech, has raised $4 million in Series A funding from investors including Second Century Ventures, the strategic venture arm of the National Association of REALTORS®.

TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2022 /CNW/ - Perch, a Toronto-based fintech that helps buyers and homeowners make data-driven decisions about their mortgages and real estate, today announced the completion of a $4 million Series A funding round. Investors include Second Century Ventures, the strategic venture arm of the National Association of REALTORS®; Ontario Centre of Innovation; and B.E.S.T. Funds, an alternative asset firm investing in technology companies in the financial services, health care, media and security sectors. With a mortgage funding rate 6x more efficient than the industry average, and a 215% customer referral rate, Perch will use the investment to continue scaling and growing its operations team.

"Perch is on a mission to simplify homeownership. We enable first-time home buyers to get into the market sooner and help homeowners to build wealth efficiently by leveraging home equity," said Alex Leduc, founder and CEO of Perch. "With over $100 million in funded mortgages to date and thousands of users that have already joined Perch, this is clear evidence we're on the right track. As we continue growing, our employees, investors and partners are all key to our success."

"Housing affordability and rising rates have been a major barrier to home ownership for Canadians and our real estate agents," said Tyler Thompson, Managing Partner of Second Century Ventures. "We believe in Perch's ability to continue improving on the existing process and product to ultimately create more solutions for borrowers and real estate agents that we know are needed in today's market."

"Innovation in the mortgage industry is long overdue," said John Richardson, CEO of B.E.S.T. Funds. "By automating the mortgage broker process, Perch is well positioned to add efficiency and greater transparency for borrowers looking to find the right mortgage."

Perch was started in 2018 by CEO Alex Leduc, who previously worked in corporate finance and analytics for several publicly-traded mortgage companies. Perch gives Canadians access to rate insights (such as the interest rate forecasts) about their financial data, to enable them to make informed decisions about when they're ready to buy.

Here's how Perch is simplifying homeownership:

Skip the sales pitch. Compare thousands of mortgages from 30+ lenders all online in a few clicks.

Get pre-approved in as little as 20 minutes. Applying is easy, with chat and phone support available 7 days a week and mortgage approvals in under 48 hours.

Automated real estate insights. Homeowners can view monthly property value estimates and switch savings opportunities on their mortgage right from their Perch account.

With year-over-year user growth of 130%, Perch previously announced its $1 million seed round in October 2021. Perch currently operates in all provinces and territories across Canada.

About Perch:
Through its analytics platform, Perch enables Canadians to make data-driven decisions about their mortgages and real estate to build wealth. Along with the dedicated support of a team of real estate and mortgage professionals, users can easily collaborate and take control of their homeownership journey. For more information, visit https://myperch.io/. To shop and compare mortgages, visit https://myperch.io/tools/pathfinder/.

About Second Century Ventures:
Second Century Ventures (SCV), the strategic investment arm of the National Association of REALTORS®, is the most active global real estate technology fund. SCV helps scale its portfolio companies across the world's largest industries including real estate, financial services, banking, home services, and insurance, and operates the award-winning global REACH technology scale-up program in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit http://www.scv.vc.

About B.E.S.T. Funds:
Founded by John Richardson in 1996, B.E.S.T. Funds provide growing technology companies with the capital they need to accelerate growth. They take a flexible approach to coming up with ways to partner with leading edge technology companies. For more information, visit http://bestfunds.ca/.