Homium, a home equity line of credit (HELOC) tokenization protocol built on Avalanche, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Sorenson Impact Group and Blizzard.
"Through shared appreciation home equity loans, Homium introduces a way for homeowners to borrow against their home equity without increasing their monthly debt burden," wrote Avalanche staff in an April 15 announcement.
By using Homium, homeowners pledge a portion of their home's future appreciation as collateral for loan equity in maintenance and repairs, debt consolidation, or inheritance. At the same time, investors receive a tokenized asset tracking the price appreciation of a pool of shared homes on the protocol.
“Homium is building a valuable new asset class for institutional investors, providing a new source of uncorrelated, inflation-protected return in their core portfolios,” said CEO Tommy Mercein in a statement. The first such home tokenization loans are currently available in Colorado.
The tokenized assets are backed by second mortgage loans made to owner-occupied single-family homes. Investors of the HELOC tokens are secured to the title like any other mortgage. Homium pledges that every home is “appraised by a third party, hybrid valuation service” with nationwide loan originators.
While the HELOC tokens are built on distributed ledger technology, they are not cryptocurrencies. Instead, the tokens are debt securities compliant with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Rule 144A regarding private placement to institutional investors. Regarding its technology, Homium developers explained:
"Patented technology gives Homium investors a real time window into every loan in each pool including its origination value and current marked-to-market estimated value. Because Homium loans are underwritten to a uniform standard that secures a % of the underlying home equity, this allows instant securitization of the note from inception. Investors receive pooled exposure to home price appreciation by state."
Since last July, Avalanche has pledged $50 million in investments for on-chain tokenization protocols, with a major focus on those specializing in real estate and digital collectibles. Meanwhile, financial services giant Citi recently described the tokenization market as the next “killer use case” in crypto.
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