The business combination will unlock around $565m (£445m) of fresh capital, including $528m of convertible note for affiliates of SoftBank and additional common equity from funds associated with NaMa Capital.
The additional capital will allow Better to “continue developing innovative technology”, which includes Tinman, a proprietary loan origination platform.
The platform will “improve internal efficiency and streamline the homeownership experience for customers”.
Better has surpassed around $100bn in funded loans and launched a one-day mortgage in January this year. Between 2019 and 2022, the firm has completed around $98bn in mortgage volume.
The firm will list on Nasdaq Global Market and the Nasdaq Capital Market, respectively, under the ticker symbols “BETR” and “BETRW”.
Better: ‘Journey far from complete’
Vishal Garg, CEO and founder of Better, said: “Since day one, we set out on a mission to create better solutions for one of life’s most important investments. Today, we’re proud to take a huge step in expanding our capacity to innovate the homeownership process by becoming a publicly-listed company. While this is a time for celebration, our journey is far from complete.
“With the support of our tremendous team, our innovative technology, and previously committed additional capital from SoftBank, Aurora, and NaMa Capital (formerly Novator Capital), we are well-positioned and eager to forge ahead and continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in homeownership for our customers and shareholders.”
Harit Talwar, chairman of the Better Home & Finance board of directors, added that going public was a “momentous occasion and we are thankful to share it with our employees, shareholders, and regulators”.
“We view this as a milestone, not a destination, and an opportunity to renew our commitment to making the homeownership experience better for our customers. We are proud of reaching over $100bn in funded volume and of the technology we have built, but Better’s best days still lie ahead.
“Going public positions us well to build a business that will thrive through cycles and we look forward to being good custodians of shareholder capital.”
‘A different approach to homeownership’
Prabhu Narasimhan, managing partner of NaMa Capital, formerly the chief investment officer of Aurora and now a director of Better Home & Finance, continued that Better provided a “fundamentally different approach to homeownership by leveraging technology to offer customers the widest range of appropriate products”.
“Better’s leading technology platform and the vision of its leadership team provides it with significant competitive advantages that will drive value creation for stakeholders over the long term,” he noted.
Arnaud Massenet, managing partner of NaMa Capital, former chief executive officer of Aurora and now a director of Better Home & Finance, said: “I am proud of the role Aurora has played in bringing Better to the public market. When we launched Aurora in March 2021, we did so to find a high-quality, tech-focused, business disrupting the status quo in its sector.
“Through our business combination with Better, we have now successfully fulfilled that aim and, over the past two years, Aurora has worked to deliver over $1.3bn to Better’s balance sheet. We believe this transaction will deliver long-term value for our shareholders and we look forward to being part of the next stage of this journey.”
