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Better.com

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Better Home & Finance Holding Company
TypePublic
Nasdaq: BETR
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedFebruary 24, 2014; 12 years ago (2014-02-24)
FounderVishal Garg
Headquarters1 World Trade Center, New York City, US
Key people
ServicesBroker for mortgage origination, title insurance, and home insurance
RevenueIncrease $164 million (2025)
Increase -$165 million (2025)
Total assetsIncrease $1.505 billion (2025)
Total equityIncrease $37 million (2025)
OwnerSoftBank Vision Fund (16.9%)
Activant Capital Group (16.7%)
Vishal Garg (12.7%)
Pine Brook Capital (6.6%)
Novator Partners (5.7%)
Ontario Pension Plan (3.9%)
Riaz Valani (2.9%)
Number of employees
1,329 (2025)
Websitebetter.com
Footnotes
[1][2][3]

Better Home & Finance Holding Company doing business as Better or Better.com, is an American financial technology company that provides mortgage origination and related services through an online platform. The company is based in New York City and is publicly traded on the Nasdaq.

Better processes, underwrites, and closes residential mortgages in the United States, and previously operated mortgage broker and banking subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.[4][5]

History

[edit]

2014–2021: Early history

[edit]

Better was founded in February 2014 by Vishal Garg after he and his wife encountered prolonged delays during their attempt to purchase a home and lost the bid to an all-cash buyer.[6] To obtain operating infrastructure and state lending licenses, Garg acquired the California-based lender Avex Funding, which became the operating entity for the new company.[7]

In January 2016, Better launched its consumer facing digital mortgage platform, Better Mortgage.[8] In the same year, Better was approved as a Fannie Mae seller or servicer.[9]

In 2019, the number of people from traditionally underrepresented groups buying homes through Better's mortgage lending platform increased significantly, a development that The New York Times suggested was linked to the company's digital processes and minimal reliance on human brokers.[10][11] In August 2019, Better closed a Series C of US$160 million at a valuation of approximately US$600 million.[12]

In 2020, Garg was a defendant in litigation brought by his former business partner Raza Khan, by Goldman Sachs, and by other parties, with allegations of fraud and misappropriation of funds at prior business ventures including MyRichUncle and CDO administrator EIFC. Goldman Sachs, which had invested in three Better funding rounds, had accused entities controlled by Garg of self-dealing.[13] In November 2020, Better raised US$200 million in a Series D led by L Catterton at a valuation of US$4 billion.[14] In April 2021, Better received $500 million in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund at a $6 billion valuation.[15][16]

In May 2021, Better announced an agreement to become publicly traded through a merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Novator Capital, at a pro-forma equity value of approximately US$7.7 billion.[17] In July 2021, Better acquired Trussle, a UK digital mortgage broker, for $9 million.[18] In May 2025, it was sold to OneDome.[19] In September 2021, Better acquired Property Partner, a London-based crowdfunding platform.[20]

2021–2023: Layoffs, lawsuits, and SPAC delay

[edit]

In December 2021, Garg laid off 900 employees by videoconference and locked their electronic devices from accessing company material.[21][22][23] Garg also made comments to employees that were deemed "unruly", telling employees that he "hired the wrong people" and referring to employees as "slow," "dumb," and "embarrassing".[24] After much criticism, Garg took approximately a month off, returning in January 2022.[25][26][27] The company was also criticized for adding 1,000 workers in India during the same year.[28]

In March 2022, Better cut 3,000 additional positions in the United States and India, with notifications to some employees occurring through inadvertently issued severance payments before formal communications were sent.[29] Better.com followed this with additional terminations across 2022, and the company's India-based subsidiary, which had grown to roughly 2,100 employees, was largely wound down through a voluntary-separation program.[30] In May 2022, Harit Talwar was hired as chairperson.[31] In June 2022, a former senior executive at Better filed a lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors in its filings. After an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission found no issues, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case.[32][33] In August 2022, a list of 250 or more US-based employees who were about to be terminated in another round of layoffs was leaked internally, leading to the termination of the employees who leaked the information.[34] The company was accused of circumventing the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 by laying people off in groups of 249 employees, under the 250 minimum that triggers the act.[35] By 2023, the company's worldwide head count had fallen from approximately 11,000 in 2020 to about 950.[36]

In February 2023, Better announced a deal with Amazon whereby Amazon employees are able to pledge their stock as collateral for a loan to cover the down payment on a house purchase, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.[37]

2023-2024: SPAC merger, public listing, and restructuring

[edit]

After multiple extensions, on August 22, 2023, Better completed its business combination with Aurora Acquisition Corp. The combined entity, Better Home & Finance Holding Company, unlocked approximately US$565 million in capital, including a US$528 million convertible note from affiliates of SoftBank and additional common equity from funds affiliated with NaMa Capital (formerly Novator Capital).[38] Trading commenced on the Nasdaq on August 24, 2023; on the opening day the share price fell more than 93%, from a previous close of US$17.45 to approximately US$1.15, valuing the company at roughly US$1 billion.[39][40][41]

In April 2023, Better completed its acquisition of Birmingham Bank, a small Birmingham, England-based UK bank dating to 1955, for US$19.3 million following Prudential Regulation Authority approval; the purchase enabled Better to fund UK residential mortgages with consumer deposits.[42] In June 2023, the company announced that it would wind down its in-house real estate brokerage, Better Real Estate, and shift to a partnership-based agent model.[43]

2024–present: AI platform pivot and divestitures

[edit]

After becoming a public company, Better shifted from a primarily direct-to-consumer originator toward a platform model centered on its AI-based loan origination system, Tinman, and its voice-based AI loan assistant, Betsy.[44] In August 2024, Better executed a 1-for-50 reverse stock split to maintain Nasdaq's minimum bid-price requirement.[45]

In April 2025, Better restructured its outstanding convertible debt, exchanging approximately US$534 million of principal held by SoftBank's SB Northstar LP for a US$110 million cash payment and US$155 million of new senior secured notes due 2028.[46] In May 2025, Better sold Trussle, which by then operated as Better.co.uk, to British property platform OneDome for an undisclosed sum.[47]

In March 2026, Better launched an integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise, providing loan officers a conversational interface connected to Tinman's underwriting engine through a Model Context Protocol connector.[48] In April 2026, the company announced plans to divest Birmingham Bank, raise US$69 million through a public stock offering, and implement cost reductions of about US$25 million, with the stated aim of reaching adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the third quarter of 2026.[49]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "DEF 14A: Other definitive proxy statements". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. April 30, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Better Home & Finance Holding Company 2025 Form 10-K Annual Report". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. March 13, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Department of State: Division of Corporations". Delaware. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  4. ↑ CARTER, MATT (August 29, 2023). "Nearly half of Better's mortgage business now comes from partners". Bradley Inman.
  5. ↑ Kim, Connie (August 17, 2022). "Better.com partners with Palantir on new proprietary loan platform". Housing Wire.
  6. ↑ Howley, Kathleen (August 19, 2019). "Digital mortgage company Better.com closes $160 million in funding". HousingWire.
  7. ↑ Rudegeair, Peter (June 12, 2016). "Online Lender's Secret to Success: Past Failure" – via www.wsj.com.
  8. ↑ Lane, Ben. "Better Mortgage becomes billion-dollar originator".
  9. ↑ Aryan, Aashish; Mukul, Pranav (December 7, 2021). "Explained: Better.com, the mortgage company that fired over 900 employees over Zoom call". The Indian Express.
  10. ↑ Miller, Jennifer (September 18, 2020). "Is an Algorithm Less Racist Than a Loan Officer?". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Jeans, David (November 20, 2020). "Mortgages, Fraud Claims And 'Dumb Dolphins': A Tangled Past Haunts Better.com CEO Vishal Garg". Forbes.
  12. ↑ Cao, Sissi (August 19, 2019). "Mortgage Lender Better.com Grows Series C Funding Round to $160M". Fortune.
  13. ↑ Solomont, E. B. (November 23, 2020). "Inside Airbnb's S-1, and Better.com CEO hit with fraud claims".
  14. ↑ Hu, Krystal (November 10, 2020). "Better.com Is Said to Raise $200 Million at $4 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg.
  15. ↑ de León, Riley (April 8, 2021). "SoftBank invests $500 million in digital mortgage lender Better.com". CNBC.
  16. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (April 9, 2021). "Mortgage is suddenly sexy as SoftBank pumps $500M in Better.com at a $6B valuation". TechCrunch.
  17. ↑ de León, Riley (May 11, 2021). "SoftBank-backed mortgage lender Better going public via $7.7 billion SPAC". CNBC.
  18. ↑ de León, Riley (July 12, 2021). "Digital mortgage lender Better acquiring Goldman Sachs-backed fintech ahead of public listing". CNBC.
  19. ↑ Kleinman, Mark (May 29, 2025). "OneDome snaps up former Goldman-backed mortgage broker Trussle". Sky News.
  20. ↑ Lawler, Ryan (September 9, 2021). "Better.com acquires UK-based Property Partner ahead of SPAC close". TechCrunch.
  21. ↑ Maruf, Ramishah (December 5, 2021). "Better.com CEO fires 900 employees over Zoom". CNN.
  22. ↑ Timmins, Beth (December 7, 2021). "Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom". BBC News.
  23. ↑ Graziosi, Graig (December 6, 2021). "Who is Vishal Garg, the CEO that fired 900 employees over Zoom call?". The Independent. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021.
  24. ↑ MATHEWS, JESSICA (December 6, 2021). "Better.com's morale and SPAC merger success in question after CEO's unruly comments". Fortune.
  25. ↑ Goldberg, Emma (December 10, 2021). "Better.com's C.E.O. is 'taking time off' after firing 900 workers over Zoom". The New York Times.
  26. ↑ Goldberg, Emma (January 18, 2022). "Better.com's founder returns as C.E.O. after firing 900 workers on Zoom". The New York Times.
  27. ↑ Kirsch, Noah (January 18, 2022). "He's Baaaack! Ax-Wielding Better.com Founder Returns as CEO". The Daily Beast.
  28. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ananya (February 16, 2022). "Did Better.com hire Indian techies only because they are cheaper?". Quartz.
  29. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (March 8, 2022). "Better.com plans to lay off about 4,000 people this week, sources say". TechCrunch.
  30. ↑ Furlan Nunes, Flávia (June 8, 2022). "Better.com and Vishal Garg violated securities and labor laws, former exec says". HousingWire.
  31. ↑ Reyes, Max (May 9, 2022). "Better Hires Ex-Goldman Partner Talwar With Eyes on Listing". Bloomberg News.
  32. ↑ Pisani, Joseph (July 14, 2022). "SEC Probes Better.com After Lawsuit Alleges Company Misled Investors". The Wall Street Journal.
  33. ↑ Nunes, Flavia (May 8, 2024). "Former top executive withdraws lawsuit against Better.com and its founder".
  34. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (August 25, 2022). "Better.com conducts fourth layoff in less than 9 months". TechCrunch.
  35. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann; Hall, Christine (September 28, 2022). "Inside the human cost of Better.com's brutal layoffs". TechCrunch.
  36. ↑ Furlan Nunes, Flávia (August 23, 2023). "Better closes merger with SPAC Aurora, unlocks $565M in fresh capital".
  37. ↑ Mattioli, Dana (February 28, 2023). "Amazon Employees Will Be Able to Use Stock as Collateral for Home Loans". The Wall Street Journal.
  38. ↑ Furlan Nunes, Flávia (August 24, 2023). "Better's shares plummet 93% in Nasdaq debut".
  39. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann; Hall, Christine (August 27, 2023). "Better.com's public market debut was Miserable.com". TechCrunch.
  40. ↑ Carter, Matt (August 23, 2023). "After setbacks, Better goes public with plan to scale 'greater heights'". Bradley Inman.
  41. ↑ Hyatt, John (August 25, 2023). "Shares in mortgage fintech Better crash on market debut". Fortune.
  42. ↑ Corser, John (April 4, 2023). "40 jobs to be created as Better buys bank". Express & Star.
  43. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (June 9, 2023). "Better.com lays off real estate team and shutters business unit". TechCrunch.
  44. ↑ Wolak, Sarah (March 19, 2025). "Vishal Garg on Better's AI mortgage underwriting capabilities". HousingWire.
  45. ↑ "Better Home & Finance Holding Company Announces Second Quarter 2024 Results and 1-for-50 Reverse Stock Split". August 2024.
  46. ↑ "Better Home & Finance Holding Company Announces Privately Negotiated Exchange Agreement". April 14, 2025.
  47. ↑ Baird, Roger (May 29, 2025). "Former Trussle digital mortgage broker snapped up by OneDome: Report".
  48. ↑ Pierson, Neil (March 5, 2026). "Better launches ChatGPT-based mortgage credit decision engine".
  49. ↑ Furlan Nunes, Flávia (April 8, 2026). "Better.com parent plans $69M stock offering, UK bank sale".
[edit]
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