PeerStreet, an award-winning platform for investing in real estate backed loans, today announced the close of a Series B funding round of $29.5 million to continue driving the company's mission of democratizing access to real estate debt.

"At the same time, our model helps lenders get more capital to deserving borrowers who are directly improving the aging US housing stock and building up communities."

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The Series B round was led by World Innovation Lab. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Thomvest, Colchis Capital, Felicis Ventures, and others participated along with new investors Solon Mack and Navitas Capital. The raise will accelerate PeerStreet's growth. Specifically, PeerStreet will be broadening the type of real estate loans it cultivates from its network of lenders and hiring more world-class talent.

As a two-sided marketplace, PeerStreet connects lenders with investors while creating incentives that align interests across participants. Real estate lenders are efficiently connected to the global capital markets while individual investors gain entry to an asset class which has been previously difficult to access. To date, PeerStreet has funded over $900 million in loan volume.

"We believe PeerStreet's approach of partnering with local, private real estate lenders is the optimal solution to create new liquidity for the existing real estate finance ecosystem," said Steve Pretre, Venture Partner at World Innovation Lab, who will be joining PeerStreet's board. "This approach lowers the marketplace cost for loan acquisition, and, most importantly, taps into the lenders' unique knowledge of local markets and borrowers. This directly benefits investors by lowering both marketplace costs and loan risk. The result is a more efficient and effective marketplace for all parties."

The Series B follows another year of high growth for PeerStreet. The company more than doubled volume from the previous year and is on track to continue that growth trajectory. PeerStreet is now integrated with three prominent personal finance platforms including Wealthfront, Betterment, and Personal Capital. It has also significantly enhanced its suite of tools and analytics for lenders over the past year, and released an innovative short term investment product for investors seeking greater liquidity.

"We're incredibly excited to add World Innovation Lab to our growing list of remarkable investors," said Brew Johnson, CEO and Co-Founder. "This investment validates our mission and will enable us to continue our growth with the goal of re-shaping real estate finance for the better."

"We're using the transformative potential of technology to help people access investments in real estate debt in a way never done before," said Brett Crosby, COO and Co-Founder. "At the same time, our model helps lenders get more capital to deserving borrowers who are directly improving the aging US housing stock and building up communities."

ABOUT PEERSTREET

PeerStreet is an award-winning investment platform focused on democratizing access to real estate debt. The company provides investments in short term, real estate backed loans. PeerStreet allows investors to diversify their capital in an asset class that has been traditionally difficult to access. Loans are sourced and curated from vetted private lenders throughout the United States who have real estate expertise and borrower relationships. The model allows for more borrowers to access capital and improve their local communities, one house at a time.

The company is led by former real estate attorney Brew Johnson, former Google executive Brett Crosby and Y Combinator alumnus Alex Perelman. PeerStreet has recently been named both one of the top companies to work for in FinTech and one of the best startups to work for in Los Angeles. Learn more at www.peerstreet.com/careers.

ABOUT WORLD INNOVATION LAB

World Innovation Lab (WiL) connects entrepreneurs with corporate resources to build global businesses. WiL is a multi-stage venture capital firm that invests in consumer and enterprise technology companies. With a deep network of global corporate partners, the firm is committed to providing startups with unparalleled investment and partnership opportunities. World Innovation Lab's foundational platform includes the Japanese government investment arm and over 20 Japan leading corporations such as Sony, Nissan, All Nippon Airways, Mizuho Bank, Daiwa Securities, NTT, and KDDI. In addition to venture investment, WiL also collaborates with the world's leading companies to incubate new businesses and to create spin-offs and joint ventures.

World Innovation Lab is headquartered in Palo Alto and Tokyo. www.wilab.com