Exclusive: Mortgage servicing software startup Haven raises $8M

Haven, a mortgage servicing software company, has raised $8 million in Series A funding from Fifth Wall and a number of other real estate and proptech investors, the company tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: As mortgage origination and refinancing slow down, mortgage servicers need to find new ways to engage with customers and create new revenue streams.

What it does: Haven makes software that enables mortgage servicers to engage with borrowers beyond just the collection and remittance of payments.

• It gives servicers a platform to help homeowners assess their income, assets, credit and debt.
• From there, mortgage services can cross-sell additional products like insurance, solar upgrades and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
• Haven claims to have integrations with 6 of the top 50 services in the U.S., and more than 800,000 homeowners live on its platform.

Between the lines: Today’s high-interest rates and slow housing market have driven mortgage origination to 25-year lows, and that is driving servicers and subservicers to hunt for new revenue.

• “Rates are incredibly high, the equity folks have in their home is incredibly high, and foreclosures are still low,” Haven founder and CEO Jonathan Chao says. “No one's refinancing and no one's moving, and the main focus has been to unlock the hidden potential of the existing servicing portfolio.”

Of note: Fidelity National Financial, RWT Horizons, 1Sharpe Ventures, Conversion Capital, BoxGroup, AME Cloud Ventures, and Operator Partners also participated in the financing.

• The round brings total funding since being founded to $13.5 million.