Real estate investment platform PeerStreet lands $29.5M funding

El Segundo-based PeerStreet, a platform for investing in real estate-backed loans, has just landed $29.5 million in a Series B funding round led by World Innovation Lab. The round also includes existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Thomvest, Colchis Capital, Felicis Ventures, Solon Mack and Navitas Capital.

The company said it will use the money for hiring and to add new types of real estate loans.

As a two-sided marketplace, PeerStreet connects lenders with investors while creating incentives that align interests across participants. Real estate lenders are efficiently connected to the global capital markets while individual investors gain entry to an asset class which has been previously difficult to access. To date, PeerStreet has funded over $900 million in loan volume.

“We believe PeerStreet’s approach of partnering with local, private real estate lenders is the optimal solution to create new liquidity for the existing real estate finance ecosystem,” said Steve Pretre, Venture Partner at World Innovation Lab, who will be joining PeerStreet’s board. “This approach lowers the marketplace cost for loan acquisition, and, most importantly, taps into the lenders’ unique knowledge of local markets and borrowers. This directly benefits investors by lowering both marketplace costs and loan risk. The result is a more efficient and effective marketplace for all parties.”

The Series B follows another year of high growth for PeerStreet. The company more than doubled volume from the previous year and is on track to continue that growth trajectory. PeerStreet is now integrated with three prominent personal finance platforms including Wealthfront, Betterment, and Personal Capital. It has also significantly enhanced its suite of tools and analytics for lenders over the past year, and released an innovative short term investment product for investors seeking greater liquidity.

“We’re incredibly excited to add World Innovation Lab to our growing list of remarkable investors,” said Brew Johnson, CEO and Co-Founder. “This investment validates our mission and will enable us to continue our growth with the goal of re-shaping real estate finance for the better.”