Groundfloor

Groundfloor is an award-winning real estate investment platform.

It enables members to build diversified portfolios of real estate loans — short-term, high-yield investments that average ten percent annual returns.

Income Unlimited readers may recognize this company. We’ve featured opportunities to invest through Groundfloor several times in the past. But this is an opportunity to invest in the company itself.

Groundfloor has amassed more than 270,000 users. And these users have invested more than $800 million into real estate loans. The company, meanwhile, has raised more than thirty-eight million dollars from notable investors including Fintech Ventures, MDO Ventures, and former WorldPay U.S. Chief Executive Anthony Catalfano.

In February 2022, Groundfloor raised $118 million in funding, including a nearly six-million-dollar investment from Medipower. Medipower is a full-service commercial real estate firm that trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It owns and manages roughly two million square feet of retail properties and residential developments throughout the U.S.

Additionally, Groundfloor has earned a strong reputation:

• In 2024, it was recognized on Forbes’ Fintech 50 list.

• CNBC included the company in its report, “4 Ways Real Estate Can Turbocharge Your Retirement.”

• In back-to-back years, Groundfloor was named to Inc Magazine’s “Inc. 5000 List,” which recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in America.

• And the company was recently named to Deloitte Technology’s “Fast 500” list, which honors the fastest-growing technology, media, and life sciences companies in North America.

As mentioned, Groundfloor enables members to invest in short-term loans. And these loans are a form of what’s known as hard-money lending.

Hard-money lending is a short-term loan backed by a specific asset, like a piece of real estate. With a traditional mortgage loan, lenders focus on a borrower’s credit to determine the likelihood that he or she will make timely payments over fifteen or thirty years.

But with hard-money loans, lenders focus primarily on the value of the asset the borrower is aiming to buy. That’s because if the borrower defaults on their loan, the lender can take over the property, sell it, and aim to recoup their capital.

This type of lending enables borrowers to receive quick access to funding. But in exchange for the quick loan, they pay higher interest rates.

Loans offered through Groundfloor are used to fund construction projects. These typically consist of “fix and flip” projects, though there are loans for new construction homes, too. Here’s how it works:

A real estate developer may need $150,000 to buy and renovate a home. So they will apply for a loan on Groundfloor and agree to pay ten percent annual interest.

If the loan’s approved, individual investors will contribute to the loan — some will put in ten dollars, others $1,000 — and once the $150,000 is raised, the developer will pay Groundfloor its fees, then use the money to complete the project.

After renovations are complete, they’ll sell the home, re-pay Groundfloor the loan (plus interest), and the company will issue returns to the loan’s investors.

Groundfloor has become the largest platform for investing fractionally in single-family real estate. And last year, it generated more than twenty-six million dollars in revenue, up from fourteen million dollars just two years earlier. Ninety-five percent of Groundfloor’s revenue and gross profit comes from fees it assess to borrowers in connection with loan servicing and origination — not ones charged to investors.

Team Background

Nick Bhargava - Co-Founder & EVP

Nick was instrumental in the creation of the JOBS Act, the set of laws passed by Congress that enables private companies to raise capital from investors like you.

Nick has extensive financial services experience, including roles at the SEC, TD Waterhouse, RBC Financial Group, and the Financial Services Roundtable.

He earned Bachelor’s degrees in Biological Sciences and Business from the University of Albert, and a J.D. from Duke Law School.

Brian Dally - Co-Founder & CEO

Brian has nearly twenty years of experience growing technology-related startups.

Prior to starting Groundfloor, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Republic Wireless. Republic is a mobile network that sells cell phones. It generated $100 million of revenue in 2016.

Before that, he was Vice President of Product for Motricity, a marketing company.

Brian earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, his MBA from Harvard Business School, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Benjamin Sutton - Senior Vice President, Finance & Strategy

Benjamin has been with Groundfloor since February 2017.

Previously, he was an audit associate with KPMG, a professional services firm. He is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Florida.

Rhonda Hills - Chief Operating Officer

Rhonda is responsible for driving engagement and revenue growth for Groundfloor.

Prior to joining the company, she was Chief Marketing Officer for Dinova, a proprietary marketplace connecting business diners with preferred restaurants. Before that, she was Executive Vice President for BLiNQ Media, an award-winning social media advertising company.

Earlier, Rhonda was Chief Marketing Officer with Kudzu.com, an online marketplace connecting homeowners with top-rated service providers and home contractors. Prior to that, she led marketing strategy for Cox Interactive Media, and was a “Founding Father” of America Online’s Digital City, a networking tool used in the 1990s.

She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Radio, Television and Film, and Music, from the University of Maryland.

Co-Investors