NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- withco, the
first commercial property ownership platform for small businesses,
announced it has raised over $30
million in equity funding. The company's lead investors are
Canaan, Founders Fund, Initialized
Capital, and NFX. Other notable investors include Danny Meyer's Enlightened Hospitality
Investments, LENX (Lennar's venture arm), Ken Chenault, Thirty Five Ventures, Venus Williams, Will
Smith's Dreamers VC, BoxGroup, Not Boring Capital, Quiet
Capital, and the founders and CEOs of Affirm, Carta, DoorDash,
Faire, Hippo, Invitation Homes, Opendoor, Plaid, and more.
Founded by Kevin Song in 2019,
withco is a social impact-driven company on a mission to help small
business owners benefit from the value they create in their
neighborhoods by becoming commercial property owners. withco was
inspired by Song's family's experience successfully operating a
Brooklyn grocery store only to be
displaced after decades.
"We are grateful to have quietly built a pioneering business
over the last two years with a world-class team and the resources
and guidance from not only the most successful innovators in real
estate, but also the greatest champions of small business in
America," said Song. "We've reviewed thousands of small business
partnerships and property investment opportunities and are
committed to supporting our next 100 small business partners in
2022."
While many small business owners can qualify for a lease, very
few are able to secure a large enough down payment to qualify for a
mortgage. withco's platform programmatically buys commercial real
estate in partnership with high-quality small business owners and
works to transition them to full ownership over the course of a
standard lease term.
Keith Rabois, Partner at Founders
Fund, compared withco to two multi-billion dollar businesses he
helped create, Square and Opendoor, saying "withco is a
category-creating technology company that uses data, expertise, and
capital to level the playing field. We are proud to partner with
the withco team as they help thousands of small businesses turn one
of their largest expenses - rent - into meaningful wealth."
The small business commercial real estate market sees over
$90 billion worth of deal flow
annually, but lacks a buyer who can efficiently price and purchase
long-tail transactions. withco partners with landlords and their
agents to be an institutional-grade buyer through data-driven
offers and quick and efficient closing processes.
"The market for buying and selling small business properties has
historically been very fragmented, opaque, and inefficient," said
Rich Boyle, Partner at Canaan and former CEO & Chairman of
LoopNet, the leading online marketplace for commercial properties.
"withco is filling a missing piece of the market for sellers and
their agents by acting as a capitalized, data-driven investor that
can efficiently purchase inventory that no one can or is willing to
understand."
withco is focused on purchasing occupied small business
properties that cost less than $5
million across the United
States with focus markets in the Southeast, Midwest, and
Texas. The company will use its
funds to invest in its platform, launch new markets, and build
partnerships with leading brokers and developers. The company
is actively raising deal capital and hiring across its team.
About withco
withco is the leading commercial property ownership platform for
small businesses in the nation. The company offers small business
owners a lease-to-own product and uses data to programmatically
purchase properties. Backed by Canaan, Founders Fund, Initialized Capital,
NFX, and others, withco is headquartered in New York and operates nationwide. For more
information, please visit www.with.co or contact press@with.co.
About Canaan
Canaan is an early-stage venture
capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs with visionary ideas.
With over $5 billion under
management, a diversified fund, and hundreds of exits to date, we
partner with entrepreneurs building the next generation of
technology and healthcare companies that will transform how we
live, work, and thrive. To learn more about our people and our
portfolio, please visit http://www.canaan.com.
About Founders Fund
Founders Fund invests in the world's most important and valuable
companies across all geographies, sectors and stages. The firm's
partners have been founders and early funders of companies
including PayPal, SpaceX, Palantir, Airbnb, Stripe and Facebook.
Founders Fund pursues a founder-friendly investment strategy,
providing maximum support with minimum interference.
About NFX
NFX is a leading pre-seed and seed-stage venture firm based in
San Francisco, CA, and Herzlia,
Israel. Founded by entrepreneurs
who built 10 companies with more than $10
billion in exits across multiple industries and regions, NFX
is transforming how true innovators are funded. With expertise in
platforms and network effects, NFX partners with the world's best
founders to solve problems - at scale - with the power of
technology. For more details, please visit www.nfx.com
About Initialized Capital
Initialized Capital is an early-stage venture firm that invests
with conviction before it's obvious. We're a diverse group of
founders, builders, and operators who understand how hard it is to
build a company. We back visionaries using software to make
civilization better and support them through product-market fit and
beyond. We're early believers in companies like Coinbase,
Instacart, Flexport, and Cruise. Initialized's portfolio—which
spans over six core funds —is worth close to $200 billion in market value with 22+ companies
valued at $1 billion or more and 5
valued over $10 billion.
Contact:
Ilyas Frenkel
646-707-2181
ilyas@with.co
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/withco-announces-30m-in-funding-to-empower-small-business-owners-to-become-commercial-property-owners-301471996.html
SOURCE withco