Homeward Raises $120M Series D Led by Saluda Grade

Homeward, a startup that helps homeowners buy before selling their existing homes or secure cash offers, has raised a $120 million Series D round led by Saluda Grade, an alternative investment firm specializing in asset-backed credit.

The round, reported exclusively by Crunchbase News, also drew participation from Continental General Insurance Co., Citi Ventures, Magnetar Capital, Norwest and LiveOak Ventures. Austin-based Homeward has now raised $360 million in equity since its 2018 inception. The company declined to disclose the valuation, saying only that it was similar to its valuation at the time of its $136 million Series C in 2021, when the figure was reported to be "just north of $800 million."

Alongside the equity, Homeward secured a $330 million asset-backed debt facility to fund more home transactions. The new capital will support expansion of its financing products and investment in its technology platform.

The raise lands amid a modest uptick in proptech investment. Global real estate-related startups have pulled in about $12.7 billion in seed- through growth-stage funding so far in 2026, per Crunchbase data, putting the year on pace to top 2025's total of $12.3 billion. The sector remains well below its peak, however: in 2019, the second-highest year on record after the 2021 venture spike, real estate-related startups raised $24 billion.

Cashing out before a sale

Homeward works through real estate agents to help clients unlock home equity and manage the timing of buying and selling. Its Buy Before You Sell program provides short-term financing so homeowners can purchase their next house before listing their current one, backed by a guaranteed backup offer on the existing property.

For sellers seeking speed, the Sell Before You List program offers a cash purchase and closing within weeks. Homeward then renovates the property and resells it on the open market, returning the profit to the original homeowner while charging a program fee.

"We realized that there's an opportunity to help homeowners sell their home fast without sacrificing all of their home equity like they would have to if they sold to an investor," founder and CEO Tim Heyl told Crunchbase News in an interview.

The financing has helped Homeward roll out its cash-offer program across the 48 contiguous states, Heyl said. The company plans to make Buy Before You Sell available nationwide by year-end.

The expansion follows a pivot that Heyl credits with helping Homeward more than quadruple revenue since 2021, even as U.S. home sales fell roughly 30% by his estimates. "Our ability to really exponentially grow over the last four years or so was a huge thanks to the pivot," Heyl said, pointing to Sell Before You List, aimed at "the home sellers that are still transacting." Homeward says it has partnered with more than 25,000 agents and facilitated over $4 billion in transactions.

A pivot as homeowners stayed put

From 2019 through 2022, Homeward focused exclusively on helping homeowners buy before selling. The offering appealed to agents and consumers competing in a tight housing market, and the company grew quickly, Heyl said.

Then rising interest rates made that customer base harder to reach. Homeowners who might have moved up — or down — stayed put as moving costs climbed.

"It became more expensive, definitely a lot more expensive, to move up, but even for a lot of people, more expensive to move down," Heyl said.

Homeward responded by broadening the types of sellers it serves. With homes taking longer to sell and prices less predictable, Heyl saw growing demand for cash offers. In early 2023, the company launched Sell Before You List. The distinction, in his view, is that Homeward offers a service to sellers rather than chasing the upside from reselling their homes.

"Once we fix the house up and sell it for its full price on the open market, we send that profit back to the original homeowner," he said.

Homeward also reworked Buy Before You Sell, lowering its cost and simplifying it for a market where homes no longer routinely sell over a weekend with multiple offers. That business has contributed significantly to growth over the past year as more homeowners have begun making moves again, Heyl said. "Most homeowners that are trying to move up or move down still plan to use the majority of their home equity to make that next purchase," he said.

A third product, Buy With Cash, lets buyers make cash-backed offers and refinance into a traditional mortgage after closing.

Distribution through agents, not ads

Homeward's distribution strategy centers on real estate agents. Rather than pursuing individual consumers, it builds ongoing relationships with agents, teams and brokerages that repeatedly bring clients to its programs.

"We don't spend a dime going direct to consumer," Heyl said. "We don't advertise. We don't market."

Some agents white-label Homeward's offerings under their own brands. Others call on the company when a client's existing home or equity access blocks a purchase. "Sometimes it's just unblocking the transaction," Heyl said.

That growth in a difficult market helped attract Saluda Grade, a first-time backer. John Stepp, who runs the firm's growth equity fund, said the team's grasp of the problems facing buyers, sellers and agents stood out among "similarly situated" operators. "They really understood the core issues they were addressing," Stepp said. "It was evident in their financial performance and their growth."

Geographic expansion was another draw. "We recognize the product-market fit, and how useful this product set really is to eliminate some of the friction in the home transaction process for consumers," Stepp told Crunchbase News, "and how useful of a tool it is for agents to be able to offer this."

AI in the underwriting stack

Homeward is also incorporating AI into its workflows. Large language models extract information from documents and help underwriters review property videos, photos and inspection reports, pulling out details about roofs, heating and cooling systems, and a home's condition.

"AI has been huge for streamlining operations and underwriting," Heyl said.

The company makes money several ways. Buy Before You Sell carries a 1% program fee plus a monthly interest cost. Sell Before You List carries a single program fee, with no monthly charge; Heyl did not specify the amount. Homeward also generates revenue through in-house mortgage and title businesses, which Heyl said can simplify transactions while reducing the program fee the company needs to charge.

For Heyl, the broader opportunity persists regardless of market conditions. "There's been a major pullback, but it hasn't changed the opportunity that exists to solve problems for buyers and sellers," he said. With $120 million in fresh equity and a $330 million debt facility in hand, Homeward now has the balance sheet to test that thesis nationwide by year-end.