Lower

About Lower

Lower.com operates as a multi-channel financial technology company with a stated mission of making homeownership more accessible and helping individuals build wealth through real estate. The company was co-founded in 2014 by a team of serial entrepreneurs: Dan Snyder (CEO), Mike Baynes, Grayson Hanes, Chris Miller, and Robert Tyson. Snyder, who serves as the CEO, brought experience from the finance sector, including roles at Wells Fargo and American Bank, and had previously co-founded Homeside Financial and QuickInsured. This venture was born from Snyder’s firsthand experience with the wealth-building power of homeownership after starting his first business.

The firm's business model is diversified across several channels to cater to different client needs. Its primary direct-to-consumer brand, Lower.com, launched in 2018, provides a streamlined, all-digital mortgage and refinancing experience, targeting millennial and Gen-Z homebuyers. For clients who prefer a more traditional, in-person approach, the company operates through its retail channel, which includes brands like Lower Local, Homeside Financial, and Honor Home Loans, often working closely with real estate agents. A significant and growing part of its business is a Mortgage as a Service (MaaS) platform. This white-label solution enables other consumer finance and real estate companies, such as Opendoor, to integrate Lower's mortgage products into their own offerings via API or no-code solutions. Revenue is generated through loan origination, refinancing, and servicing across these channels.

Lower provides a comprehensive suite of services that covers the entire homeownership journey. This includes financing for home purchases, refinancing options to lower payments, and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). The platform also integrates ancillary services, offering a marketplace for home insurance through partnerships with over 35 major carriers. A distinctive feature is the "HomeFund™" account, an interest-bearing, FDIC-insured deposit account designed to help customers save for a down payment, which includes a matching rewards program. A significant milestone for the company was securing a $100 million Series A funding round in 2021, noted as the largest in Ohio's history, after being bootstrapped and profitable for years. This capital has fueled product expansion and technological development, including the acquisition of Neat Labs to create LowerOS, a proprietary cloud-based platform to streamline the mortgage process.