Podcast: StackSource Gets Newark Venture Funding for Online CRE Lending Platform

NEWARK, NJ—FinTech startup StackSource—which wants to disrupt the traditional and paper-laden commercial real estate finance industry by offering a one-stop online lending platform that compares multiple loan options for real estate developers—has received $200,000 from a leading early state venture fund in Newark, NJ.

Newark Venture Partners, which is backed by corporate partners that include Newark-based Prudential Financial, and audio book company Audible and TD Bank, chose StackSource from a pool of more than 1,800 companies across the country that applied for its accelerator program.

Tim Milazzo, founder of StackSource, tells GlobeSt.com he and his development partner Nathan Wall were excited by the opportunity to gain investment from a Newark-based venture fund, but also to grow the company there.

“This fund exists to basically invest in early stage startups, primarily business to business technology companies that can be the next generation of job creators in New Jersey and specifically in Newark, because the fund’s investors truly believe in technology companies as, you know, the next decade’s way to create a vibrant community by creating lots of jobs and adding to the local economy,” Milazzo says. “So that’s why we decided to be a part of this ecosystem.”

“The competition to be selected for this cohort was fierce – and we are confident that this group of startups are game changers. The momentum at NVP is palpable and we are excited to help these companies put down roots and grow here in Newark,” said Tom Wisniewski, managing partner at Newark Venture Partners.

StackSource hopes to disrupt the $3 trillion commercial mortgage market, Milazzo says.

StackSource’s new marketplace provides immediate lender matching, data system integration for instant diligence, and a platform to manage the underwriting process end-to-end—all from a desktop computer or mobile device. StackSource already has underwritten hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial lending with 200+ lenders actively involved on the platform.

“In a day and age when you can hop online and find out rates for residential mortgages that you can use to buy a home, the commercial mortgage industry is still a lot more opaque and a lot more old school,” Milazzo says. “Typically, to get a commercial real estate loan, you have to call the right guy in a suit that calls the other the right guy in a suit, and you eventually get a term sheet from a banker or a credit union, and you’re not quite sure if that’s the best loan that’s available on the market. StackSource is bringing a new level of transparency efficiency to this market, by allowing commercial property owners and developers to submit a single loan request, get matched to commercial real estate lenders that are looking for that type of loan, and they’re able to submit offers that are easily compared and analyzed by commercial real estate investors.”

PODCAST INTERVIEW

You can listen to an audio conversation with Tim Milazzo of StackSource in the player below. If you do not see a player, you can click here to listen to the podcast.

StackSource allows developers to fill out one universal loan request, compare loan offers, and work with an expert capital advisor to assist through the entire process, including negotiations with lenders. Transparency is at the heart of StackSource’s platform, as property owners can compare and analyze not only their loan quotes but also any associated fees.  This includes taking StackSource’s placement fee into account, where fees with other mortgage brokers are more likely to be hidden.

Milazzo comes from a family of New Jersey based real estate brokers. He is a graduate of  Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. He worked for Google, and later Facebook, within their advertising technology divisions.

In 2015, after meeting co-founder and fellow New Jersey resident Wall, he left Facebook to build StackSource, and is now the startup’s CEO.

StackSource is joined by seven other startups at NVP for the Fall 2018 cohort, including Ejenta, Exempt Me Now, Floss Bar, RankMiner, Upsider, Talentegy and Team Mobot. Together, the cohort represents the industries of HRTech, Voice, Consumerization of Healthcare, HealthTech, Robotics and FinTech.

NVP Labs invests an initial $120,000, with an additional $100,000 at the close of the program, and potential investment from NVP’s direct investment arm of up to $1 million in subsequent funding rounds.

Companies also get space within NVP’s coworking offices housed in the same building as Audible and Rutgers Business School, as well as guidance from a robust mentorship and growth team. The fund’s corporate partners, Audible (an Amazon Company), Dun & Bradstreet, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Prudential Financial, RWJBarnabas, TD Bank through the TD Charitable Foundation, Fidelco Realty Group, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority also regularly interact with NVP Labs companies, providing market-based insight, technology assistance, and high level networking opportunities.

“For StackSource, more than the money and the free office space, joining NVP is a chance to bump shoulders with other successful entrepreneurs who have gone through the program, that have raised additional rounds of funding, that have gone on to build very successful companies,” Milazzo says. “It’s the chance to get paired with some of the employees of the corporate limited partners, and in our case, a couple of the financial institutions that invest in the fund, to let them know what we’re doing and to help incubate our solutions. And it’s also that the opportunity to pair with some expert mentors and advisers that the program brings in for the benefit all of the companies.”

The program aims to guide the companies to achieve in-depth strategic plans and scalable marketing and sales operations. This is the fifth time NVP has run the accelerator program since its inception in 2014.

“An investment from NVP Labs includes high powered connections, expert support and a community of growth-minded mentors,” says Allison Williams, director of NVP Labs. “This cohort of founders is not only prepared to take these resources and run with them but also poised to be market leaders in the B2B space.”

Newark Venture Partners was founded by Don Katz, Audible founder and CEO, to grow Newark as a hub for east coast technology and recast the city as a pioneering innovation zone and ultra-bandwidth tech center. With billions of dollars earmarked for construction projects, affordable housing, new retail development, and 21st century work spaces, Newark’s community of entrepreneurs and young talent is growing, as they look to reach New York City’s resources without its legendary cost of living and doing business.