Sharestates

About Sharestates

Sharestates operates as a real estate financial technology platform, connecting real estate developers and property owners with accredited and institutional investors. The company was co-founded in August 2013 by Allen Shayanfekr, Radni Davoodi, and Raymond Y. Davoodi, officially launching in July 2014 and beginning to originate loans in 2015. The genesis of the company stemmed from a family dinner conversation between the founders, who aimed to solve the problem of limited access to quality real estate investments for many individuals due to capital limitations and geography.

The founders' collective experience in real estate and law forms the bedrock of the company. Brothers Radni and Raymond Davoodi previously co-founded the Atlantis Organization, a national title insurance provider, building a vast network of real estate professionals that proved essential for Sharestates' growth. CEO Allen Shayanfekr, whose family fled Iran in the 1980s, brought a crucial legal perspective to the venture. Holding a Juris Doctor from Touro Law Center, his expertise in securities law was vital for navigating the regulatory landscape, particularly after the 2012 JOBS Act, which eased restrictions on public solicitation for private offerings and enabled the company's online marketplace model. Prior to Sharestates, Shayanfekr also gained experience at the Atlantis Organization alongside the Davoodi brothers.

The firm's business model centers on real estate crowdfunding. It provides capital to borrowers for non-owner-occupied residential and commercial properties faster than traditional banks. For investors, it offers access to institutional-quality, asset-backed real estate debt investments with a minimum investment as low as $5,000. Sharestates generates revenue by charging borrowers an origination fee of 1-5% for each loan. The platform offers a variety of loan programs, including residential bridge, fix-and-flip, new construction, and rental loans, with sizes ranging from $75,000 to $75 million. Since its inception, the company has funded over $3.6 billion in projects.

A key feature of Sharestates' operation is its rigorous 34-point underwriting process, which analyzes factors like loan-to-value ratio, location, and the sponsor's track record and creditworthiness. This stringent vetting process results in the company underwriting only about 2% of the deals presented to it. Investments on the platform are primarily structured as Borrower-Dependent Payment Notes, which entitle investors to a share of the principal and interest payments from the underlying mortgage. In January 2023, the company expanded its offerings by launching the "Sharestates Global Varied Term Fund," a vehicle designed to give global investors tax-efficient access to a multi-asset portfolio of U.S. real estate debt.