Stairs Financial Raises $3.5M to Help First-Time Buyers Climb the Housing Ladder

Mortgage Marketplace Stairs Financial has raised a seed round of $3.5M as it tackles historically low first-time home purchases in the US.

The round was led by Zigg Capital with participation from Y Combinator, previous investor Antler, Exceptional Capital, and others.

Stairs Financial connects first-time buyers with local lenders to secure optimized mortgages, as well as giving them detailed down payment assistance.

The Texas startup, founded in 2020 by two Harvard graduates, has a free-to-use mortgage comparison product powered by its database of home buyer programs and mortgage products. It also offers a service for identifying and signing up to homebuyer down payment assistance programs from grants to matched saving programs.

Malcolm-Wiley Floyd, CEO and co-founder at Stairs Financial, said:

"High interest rates, low inventory and high prices have combined to make it really hard for young Americans to buy homes.

"Our generation has had to deal with two recessions and a global pandemic during our peak earning and home buying years. Many young Americans won’t be able to afford to buy a home with a conventional 20% down mortgage."