Fintech
Aven Reaches Unicorn Status With $142M Series D Funding Round
Aven, the financial technology company that offers real estate-backed consumer credit cards, has announced the completion of a $142 million Series D funding round led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst.
Aven’s latest investment helps it achieve unicorn status as it aims to offer the first home-backed credit cards to homeowners in all 50 U.S. states.
Aven’s credit card product is designed to help homeowners reduce their credit card interest rates by up to 50% while efficiently and responsibly leveraging their home equity.
Joining co-lead investors Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst in Aven’s Series D round are existing investors Caffeinated Capital, Electric Capital, Founders Fund, and The General Partnership.
Aven: A Five-Year Journey to Rapid and Sustained Growth
Founded only in 2019, Aven has rocketed to unicorn status in just five years. The company was founded by Sadi Khan, Collin Wikman, and Murtada Shah, former product, design, and engineering executives at Facebook and Square.
In fact, it wasn’t until 2022 that Aven first launched, further highlighting the speed of its impressive growth. Today, Aven is on a mission to provide its consumers with the lowest costs and most affordable access to capital.
Its first product, the Aven Home Card, allows homeowners to access their home equity in minutes, starting at $0, while maintaining all the benefits of a traditional credit card.
In the two years since its launch, Aven has issued over US$1.5 billion in credit lines for its Home Card, saving customers over US$100 million in interest payments to date.
Sadi Khan, co-founder and CEO of Aven, says, “We believe there is no reason why anyone who owns property and has a good credit history should use unsecured credit. Period. Unsecured credit is expensive and unhealthy.
“With our asset-backed credit cards, we give consumers credit for what they own, saving them thousands of dollars without sacrificing convenience.”
Aven: expands its product offering
Amid its successful growth, Aven has launched a slew of new financial products to match. After tripling its revenue in 2023, the fintech startup launched a free, mobile-first financial advisory tool: Aven Advisor. Today, the tool has over 160,000 members.
With its latest investment, Aven plans to offer Aven Home Cards in all 50 U.S. states, expand its advisory tool, and expand into new verticals, including self-secured cards and mortgage refinancing.
Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures adds, “By using technology to drive efficiency, Aven has created a product that responsibly helps reduce the cost of capital by more than 50% for the majority of U.S. homeowners using alternative credit cards.”
Aven also announced the formation of an advisory board, whose goal is to help it grow while advocating for the interests of its cardholders and offering insights on industry conditions and strategic opportunities.
Aven’s advisory board will consist of four executives: Michael DeVito, former CEO of Freddie Mac; Tim Mayopoulos, former CEO of Fannie Mae; Jim Messina, former White House deputy chief of staff under the Obama administration; and Kevin Warsh, former member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
New board member Kevin Warsh adds, “I was blown away by the Aven team when I first met them several years ago. However, I was initially skeptical that their core product would scale in the rigid, calcified industry structure that has prevailed in the mortgage market for decades. The Aven team is significantly proving skeptics wrong. I am thrilled to be their partner.”
Aven is currently available in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey , New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
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