Toronto-based Pine has surpassed $1 billion CAD in mortgages under administration and launched new products to help clients with more steps in the Canadian home-buying and ownership process.
To date, Pine says it has approved $3 billion in mortgages for more than 55,000 families. Today, the licensed digital mortgage startup claims to manage more than 2,500 active mortgages worth over $1 billion collectively, serving upwards of 100,000 customers across Canada on the back of 600-percent growth over the past year.
“We’ve been able to succeed in a market that has been very challenging.”
Justin Herlick, Pine
In an interview with BetaKit, Pine co-founder and CEO Justin Herlick called this “an important milestone” that puts the startup “in a very healthy spot.” When Herlick initially developed Pine’s business plan, $1 billion in mortgages was “the self-sustaining number” for the business. He said Pine has now not only achieved that, but is also on pace to add another $1 billion this year.
But Herlick noted Pine has “big ambitions” that involve providing more than just mortgages. The startup hopes to build on its recent growth by offering real estate search, advisory, and other homeownership tools through a single platform, including via the refreshed Pine Homes, which leverages the tech Pine acquired from former Toronto proptech peer Properly in 2023.
Pine Homes connects buyers with listings, personalized financing options, and property guidance. It joins a suite of products that also includes artificial intelligence (AI)-powered pre-approvals and a variety of direct lending programs, from mortgage renewals to refinancings.
“We think there’s an opportunity to really provide a seamless experience [from] end to end,” Herlick said.
Pine was founded in 2021 by Herlick and CTO Jonathan Shih to help Canadians buy homes faster and save money on their mortgages. “A mortgage from Pine looks like a mortgage from your bank, which is exactly how it’s meant to be,” except faster and cheaper, Herlick claimed.
The startup raised a $6-million seed round that year and emerged from stealth in 2022 after closing a $21-million Series A with a vision of building the “Wealthsimple for home buying.”
RELATED: Wealthsimple enters mortgage space through Pine partnership
Since then, Pine has acquired local proptech peer Properly (including its Canadian real estate brokerages and search portal), partnered with major Toronto-based FinTech company Wealthsimple to fuel the latter’s entry into the mortgage space in a deal that Herlick said has fared well thus far, and raised $28 million in additional capital to execute on its plans.
That figure includes $5 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank in early 2023, and $23 million in equity and simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) financing led by existing investors, including Montréal-based Inovia Capital, Toronto’s Intact Ventures, and United States-based Greylock, with participation from new US backers Wischoff Ventures, Position Ventures, and MetaProp.
The $23 million includes $6.8 million in equity from 2022 at the same terms of its Series A, and another $13.7 million in SAFEs from fall 2024, which Pine secured to help it meet some milestones—including this $1-billion one—ahead of a larger, planned Series B in the future.
“By creating a true one-stop shop for homeownership that pairs real estate tools with deeply integrated financial services, Pine is redefining how Canadians own homes,” Inovia partner Karamdeep Nijjar said in a statement.
RELATED: Pine acquires Properly to capture more of the Canadian home-buying process
The CEO said Pine has multiple years of runway remaining and is not currently fundraising. Herlick believes Pine will become a multi-product company, pursuing a similar path to some of Canada’s most successful FinTech firms, including its partner Wealthsimple, which started with investing but has since expanded to provide many other financial services.
Herlick said Pine’s immediate gameplan involves continuing to invest in AI and tech development, and expanding its network of brokers from Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto to include experts in Edmonton and Ottawa.
While home equity lines of credit and home insurance are also on Pine’s roadmap, the home sale purchase guarantees that Properly was once known for are not.
Herlick noted that over the past year, some other players in Canada’s digital mortgage space, such as Questrade and Rocket Mortgage, have retreated amid tough conditions for home sales, leaving Pine and Nesto as some of the country’s remaining digital mortgage players.
“We’ve been able to succeed in a market that has been very challenging,” he claimed.
Feature image courtesy Pine.