Vesta, an AI-native software startup focused on mortgage lending, raised $30 million in a funding round led by Conversion Capital, the company announced Thursday. The round also included investments from Pennymac, New American Funding, Citi Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz. Founded in 2020 by Mike Yu and Devon Yang, Vesta uses AI agents to automate loan origination, aiming to reduce the time and costs involved in mortgage processing.
CEO Mike Yu told TechCrunch that demand for Vesta’s product has surged over the past year, with revenue increasing 12-fold year over year. The company has helped originate more than $100 billion in loans annually for its lender customers. Vesta has raised a total of $85 million to date. Yu said the startup plans to use the new funds to expand its market share, which currently stands at under 5%, and to develop new product lines including a personal assistant tool to support mortgage issuers in managing tasks and workflows.
The mortgage industry faces a lengthy and costly process, with the average U.S. mortgage taking around 40 days to close and costing approximately $11,000 per loan, mostly due to human labor. Vesta’s AI agents aim to address this bottleneck by automating task completion and accelerating loan reviews. The company’s approach allows lenders to deploy multiple AI agents simultaneously, reducing wait times and operational costs. This funding round highlights growing investor interest in AI-driven solutions within the mortgage sector, which has seen increasing adoption of automation technologies.
Vesta’s CEO emphasized the opportunity to capture more market share and invest in product innovation. The company’s next steps include scaling its AI agent platform and launching the personal assistant product for mortgage issuers. Vesta’s funding announcement comes as the startup continues to expand its customer base, including major lenders like Pennymac and New American Funding.