Great Wave Ventures reposted this
I don’t do a lot of (really any) consumer investing, but when someone builds a business you’ve been wanting to exist for years, you jump. Thrilled to back Kelley Halpin and Mesa on their mission to build credit cards for homeowners. If you’re like me and you spend more at Home Depot and home insurance than airport lounges and Amex hotels, it’s time for a change. Great Wave Ventures Michael Palmer Nobu Iguchi
Homeownership is the most expensive it’s been in a generation with consumers spending over one third of their income on their home. As a country, Americans spend over $6T annually on homeownership — more than defense, social security, and healthcare combined. It’s no longer just a housing problem - it’s a home cost crisis. That hurts a lot of people and their finances. It hurts all of us too, because homeownership is essential to the economy and to our communities. Other businesses vie for your loyalty by giving you something back. Buy a lot of coffee at Starbucks, get one for free. Fly Delta enough, get an upgrade. Book a hotel with Marriott, earn points to spend. But the one thing you spend the most on – your home and all that comes with it? No one rewards that. But that’s about to change. Today, we’re excited to announce Mesa: the first homeowner membership platform. The Mesa Homeowner Membership platform gives value back for every dollar members spend on their home. Our first products are the Mesa Mortgage Marketplace and the Mesa Homeowners Card. Mesa rewards points can be redeemed at partner brands, used to book travel, or reinvested back into your home by paying down your outstanding mortgage balance or applying Mesa points towards a down payment. Mesa has brought together some of the largest and most innovative companies in the world to help solve the home cost crisis. Our strategic partners like Visa help power our mission as part of the Mesa Homeowners Network™. Our team brings decades of experience from world class companies like Uber, Robinhood, Block, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and American Express. This includes leaders like Shannon Cusick, our Head of Partnerships who led business development at Peloton and American Express, Tina Moore, our GM of Card & Rewards who was on the founding team at Bilt Rewards, and CFO Nadia Asoyan, the first finance hire at Robinhood. To build on our momentum, we’ve raised a $9.2M round of financing to grow our team, expand our membership offerings, and add more brand and financial partners to the Mesa Homeowners Network. The $7.2 million seed funding was led by Streamlined Ventures, with Starting Line, Assurant Ventures, Vera Equity, RWT Horizons, Clocktower Ventures, Red Sea Ventures, FJ Labs, WISE Ventures, LLC, and several other firms joining. Executives from companies like Ramp, Robinhood, Opendoor, and Alloy also invested. We received an additional $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. At Mesa, we’re on a mission to make homeownership more affordable and rewarding. If that’s something you believe in, please reach out.