A Bucks County startup that operates an alternative real estate investment marketplace has rebranded; the company formerly known as Yieldeasy is now Finresi.
The new name combines the words finance and housing.
“I think this has really helped us establish our brand as domain experts in real estate finance and real estate debt asset class investing,” Finresi co-founder Jeff Gopstein told Technical.ly.
The Newtown-based company pivoted last spring from being a marketplace for buying apartments to being a marketplace that allows investors to invest in real estate loans and participate in real estate debt. After pivoting, Yieldeasy launched its new platform last August. The company relaunched its platform under the Finresi brand two weeks ago, attracting 700 new users.
Gopstein said the overall platform remains the same, but it offers a wider range of real estate products in both smaller and fast-growing markets, and it has also diversified loan sizes to attract more investors.
Finresi’s overall look has been updated with a more user-friendly dashboard that makes it easier for investors to research loans.
The company aims to make real estate investing accessible to qualified investors, even if they're not property owners. Users can invest in properties with lending partners and receive a percentage of the loan. As the property owner pays off the loan, the investor receives a monthly income stream. Once the loan is paid off in full, the principal invested is returned.
Real estate crowdfunding is an increasingly popular method of financing investment properties from multiple sources. Finresi focuses on debt investments, which are less risky than equity investments but can also have lower potential returns, according to Investopedia.
Coinciding with the rebrand, the company also announced that it had raised a total of $1.3 million in seed funding, a follow-up to a $1 million raise last fall and an additional $300,000 in the past six months.
The round was led by Summersault Ventures, with additional contributions from Alumni Ventures, Ben Franklin Technology Partners and several angel investors.
Gopstein said the funding will be primarily used for business development and marketing. As part of the business development division, the company also hired Christian Leon as senior vice president of investor relations, increasing Finresi's full-time employee count to three.
Gopstein hopes to eventually increase the variety of properties on the platform and broaden product offerings for users. In the short term, the company hopes to raise another funding round later this year.
“That's really the most exciting thing for us is being able to provide exposure to real estate without taking on the traditional risks that come with the liability side,” Gopstein said.
Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, a Ground Truth Project initiative that connects early career journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Before you go out…
To help keep our independent journalism strong, please consider supporting Technical.ly. Unlike most business-focused media, we don't offer paid content. Instead, we rely on your personal and organizational support.