Better Home & Finance Holding Company
Public
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedFebruary 24, 2014 (age 12)
FounderVishal Garg
Hq location1 World Trade Center, New York City, US
Key people
ServicesBroker for mortgage origination, title insurance, and home insurance
Revenue$164 million (2025)
Net income-$165 million (2025)
Assets$1.505 billion (2025)
Equity$37 million (2025)
OwnerSoftBank Vision Fund (16.9%)
Activant Capital Group (16.7%)
Vishal Garg (12.7%)
Pine Brook Capital (6.6%)
Novator Partners (5.7%)
Ontario Pension Plan (3.9%)
Riaz Valani (2.9%)
Num employees1,329 (2025)
Websitebetter.com

Better Home & Finance Holding Company doing business as Better or Better.com, headquartered in New York City, provides mortgage origination and related services such as title insurance and home insurance online in the United States and United Kingdom.[1]

Better processes, underwrites and closes mortgages for lenders and then sells them to secondary investors.[2][3]

History

In February 2014, Vishal Garg founded the company after he and his wife had a negative experience obtaining a mortgage to buy their first home.[4]

In 2016, the company launched Better Mortgage and was approved to be a Fannie Mae seller/servicer.[5]

The number of people from traditionally underrepresented groups buying homes through Better's mortgage lending platform increased significantly in 2019, a development that The New York Times suggested was linked to the company's digital processes and minimal reliance on human brokers.[6][7]

In April 2021, the company received $500 million in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund at a $6 billion valuation.[8][9]

In July 2021, Better acquired Trussle, a UK digital mortgage broker, for $9 million.[10] In May 2025, it was sold to OneDome.[11]

In September 2021, Better acquired Property Partner, a London-based crowdfunding platform, later that same year.[12]

In December 2021, Garg laid off 900 employees by videoconference and locked their electronic devices from accessing company material.[13][14][15] Garg also made comments to employees that were deemed "unruly", telling employees that he "hired the wrong people" and referring to employees as "slow," "dumb," and "embarrassing".[16] After much criticism, Garg took approximately a month off, returning in January 2022.[17][18][19] The company was also criticized for adding 1,000 workers in India during the same year.[20]

In May 2022, Harit Talwar was hired as chairperson.[21] In August 2022, a list of 250 or more US-based employees who were about to be terminated in another round of layoffs was leaked internally, leading to the termination of the employees who leaked the information.[22] The company was accused of circumventing the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 by laying people off in groups of 249 employees, under the 250 minimum that triggers the act.[23]

In February 2023, the company announced a deal with Amazon whereby Amazon employees are able to pledge their stock as collateral for a loan to cover the down payment on a house purchase, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.[24]

In August 2023, the company became a public company via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company that included an investment from SoftBank Vision Fund.[25][26][27]

In June 2022, a former senior executive at Better filed a lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors in its filings. After an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission found no issues, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case.[28][29]

Better's operating subsidiaries include Better Mortgage, Better Real Estate, Better Settlement Services, Better Cover and Better Inspect.[30]

References

  1. ^ Agostini Ferrer, Andrea (October 11, 2022). "Better Mortgage Review". Money
  2. ^ CARTER, MATT (August 29, 2023). "Nearly half of Better's mortgage business now comes from partners". Bradley Inman
  3. ^ Kim, Connie (August 17, 2022). "Better.com partners with Palantir on new proprietary loan platform". Housing Wire
  4. ^ Howley, Kathleen (2019-08-19). "Digital mortgage company Better.com closes $160 million in funding". HousingWire
  5. ^ Aryan, Aashish & Mukul, Pranav (December 7, 2021). "Explained: Better.com, the mortgage company that fired over 900 employees over Zoom call". The Indian Express
  6. ^ Miller, Jennifer (September 18, 2020). "Is an Algorithm Less Racist Than a Loan Officer?". The New York Times
  7. ^ Jeans, David (November 20, 2020). "Mortgages, Fraud Claims And 'Dumb Dolphins': A Tangled Past Haunts Better.com CEO Vishal Garg". Forbes
  8. ^ de León, Riley (April 8, 2021). "SoftBank invests $500 million in digital mortgage lender Better.com". CNBC
  9. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann (April 9, 2021). "Mortgage is suddenly sexy as SoftBank pumps $500M in Better.com at a $6B valuation". TechCrunch
  10. ^ de León, Riley (July 12, 2021). "Digital mortgage lender Better acquiring Goldman Sachs-backed fintech ahead of public listing". CNBC
  11. ^ Kleinman, Mark (May 29, 2025). "OneDome snaps up former Goldman-backed mortgage broker Trussle". Sky News
  12. ^ Lawler, Ryan (September 9, 2021). "Better.com acquires UK-based Property Partner ahead of SPAC close". TechCrunch
  13. ^ Maruf, Ramishah (December 5, 2021). "Better.com CEO fires 900 employees over Zoom". CNN
  14. ^ Timmins, Beth (December 7, 2021). "Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom". BBC News
  15. ^ Graziosi, Graig (December 6, 2021). "Who is Vishal Garg, the CEO that fired 900 employees over Zoom call?". The Independent. Archived December 6, 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ^ MATHEWS, JESSICA (December 6, 2021). "Better.com's morale and SPAC merger success in question after CEO's unruly comments". Fortune
  17. ^ Goldberg, Emma (December 10, 2021). "Better.com's C.E.O. is 'taking time off' after firing 900 workers over Zoom.". The New York Times
  18. ^ Goldberg, Emma (January 18, 2022). "Better.com's founder returns as C.E.O. after firing 900 workers on Zoom.". The New York Times
  19. ^ Kirsch, Noah (January 18, 2022). "He's Baaaack! Ax-Wielding Better.com Founder Returns as CEO". The Daily Beast
  20. ^ Bhattacharya, Ananya (February 16, 2022). "Did Better.com hire Indian techies only because they are cheaper?". Quartz (publication)
  21. ^ Reyes, Max (May 9, 2022). "Better Hires Ex-Goldman Partner Talwar With Eyes on Listing". Bloomberg News
  22. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann (August 25, 2022). "Better.com conducts fourth layoff in less than 9 months". TechCrunch
  23. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann & Hall, Christine (September 28, 2022). "Inside the human cost of Better.com’s brutal layoffs". TechCrunch
  24. ^ Mattioli, Dana (February 28, 2023). "Amazon Employees Will Be Able to Use Stock as Collateral for Home Loans". The Wall Street Journal
  25. ^ "Better Home & Finance Announces Closing of Business Combination". Business Wire. August 23, 2023.
  26. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann & Hall, Christine (August 27, 2023). "Better.com’s public market debut was Miserable.com". TechCrunch
  27. ^ Carter, Matt (August 23, 2023). "After setbacks, Better goes public with plan to scale 'greater heights'". Bradley Inman
  28. ^ Pisani, Joseph (July 14, 2022). "SEC Probes Better.com After Lawsuit Alleges Company Misled Investors". The Wall Street Journal
  29. ^ Nunes, Flavia (May 8, 2024). "Former top executive withdraws lawsuit against Better.com and its founder". HousingWire
  30. ^ "Affiliated Business". Better Mortgage. Retrieved 5 May 2026.