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Perplexity

Gemini

Claude

Grok

Pioneering new financial products and solutions to address gaps in traditional lending and real estate markets

Innovation

Providing homeowners with more inclusive and flexible ways to overcome hardships and reach financial goals

Customer Focus

Fostering an environment where employees can develop professionally and think creatively about problem-solving

Growth and Creativity

Working together across diverse teams toward common goals with varied backgrounds and perspectives

Collaboration

EasyKnock was a pioneering residential sale-leaseback fintech company founded in 2016 that allowed homeowners to access home equity without moving. Despite raising $127M in funding and making multiple acquisitions, the company permanently closed in December 2024 following consumer lawsuits and regulatory enforcement actions.

With $215M capital raise, EasyKnock launches product for home shoppers

Jarred Kessler

CEO & Co-Founder

Ben Black

Co-Founder

Dennis Johnson

Board Member

Core product allowing homeowners to sell their property to EasyKnock for immediate cash while simultaneously leasing it back to continue living in the home. Provided access to home equity without moving, targeted at homeowners facing financial hardship or seeking capital for other investments.

Residential Sale-Leaseback

Co-ownership product acquired through Balance Homes acquisition in December 2023, offering homeowners equity access through shared appreciation agreements rather than traditional debt or full sale.

Home Equity Investment (via Balance Homes)

Home maintenance and repair services acquired through Onder acquisition in September 2023, providing support to homeowners leasing back their properties from EasyKnock.

Property Maintenance Services (via Onder)

Cash offer and buy-before-you-sell services acquired through Ribbon purchase in May 2023, helping homebuyers make competitive all-cash offers in tight markets.

Power Buyer Services (via Ribbon)

The embattled sale-leaseback platform EasyKnock closed its doors in December 2024 after facing scrutiny from state regulators and consumer lawsuits. NPR documented lawsuits in Texas, Maryland, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, plus enforcement actions by attorneys general in Michigan and Massachusetts.

EasyKnock Permanently Closes Following Legal Scrutiny

EasyKnock acquired the assets of HomePace, a home equity investment firm founded in 2020. This marked EasyKnock's fifth acquisition and latest expansion of its home equity product portfolio beyond traditional sale-leasebacks into shared appreciation agreements.

EasyKnock Acquires HomePace to Expand Home Equity Solutions

EasyKnock closed a $28 million Series D funding round led by Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures with participation from new and existing investors including Gaingels, Moderne Ventures, QED Investors, and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff. The funding aimed to broaden options for homeowners' financial flexibility.

EasyKnock Secures $28M Series D Led by Northwestern Mutual

EasyKnock announced a strategic alliance with iconic media brand iHeartMedia in May 2024. iHeartMedia's diverse platforms would carry EasyKnock's on-air and digital advertising campaigns to increase awareness of sale-leaseback solutions for homeowners.

EasyKnock Forges Alliance with iHeartMedia

New American Funding and EasyKnock announced their partnership to offer programs providing flexibility to American homeowners seeking alternatives to traditional mortgage products and home equity solutions.

New American Funding Partners with EasyKnock for Housing Stability

EasyKnock announced the appointment of Dennis Johnson to its Board of Directors in January 2024, bringing additional governance and strategic oversight during a challenging period for the company shortly before its final funding round.

Dennis Johnson Appointed to EasyKnock Board of Directors

STRYKER CORP

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus

Jarred Kessler and Ben Black founded EasyKnock in New York City, creating the United States' first technology-enabled residential sale-leaseback provider to help homeowners access equity without moving.

EasyKnock Founded

EasyKnock closed its first funding round, providing initial capital to develop technology platform and launch residential sale-leaseback operations.

First Funding Round

Raised $3.5 million in seed funding including $100 million in new debt funding to scale operations and expand market reach for sale-leaseback products.

Seed Funding with Debt Facility

Secured $12 million Series A that also provided $203 million in debt funding, enabling significant expansion of the sale-leaseback program across more markets.

Series A Funding

Raised $20 million Series B to continue scaling operations during a period of increased demand for alternative home equity solutions amid the pandemic.

Series B Funding

Completed $57.2 million Series C funding round to expand product offerings and prepare for strategic acquisitions of complementary proptech companies.

Series C Funding

EasyKnock acquired Ribbon, a struggling power buyer firm, as part of its strategy to expand into adjacent real estate fintech products and services.

Acquired Ribbon

Purchased Onder, a property maintenance services company, to enhance service offerings to homeowners leasing back their properties.

Acquired Onder

Acquired Balance Homes, a home equity co-ownership company, expanding EasyKnock's portfolio of alternative home equity products beyond traditional sale-leasebacks.

Acquired Balance Homes

Appointed Dennis Johnson to the Board of Directors to provide strategic guidance during a period of regulatory scrutiny and operational challenges.

Dennis Johnson Joins Board

Closed $28 million Series D funding round led by Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures with participation from Gaingels, Moderne Ventures, QED Investors, and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff.

Series D Funding Round

Completed acquisition of HomePace, a home equity investment firm founded in 2020, representing EasyKnock's fifth and final acquisition before closure.

Acquired HomePace

Forged strategic alliance with iHeartMedia for on-air and digital advertising campaigns to increase brand awareness for sale-leaseback solutions.

iHeartMedia Partnership

EasyKnock permanently shut down operations in December 2024 after facing consumer lawsuits in multiple states and enforcement actions by attorneys general in Michigan and Massachusetts, ending the pioneering residential sale-leaseback platform.

Company Permanently Closed

Feeling overwhelmed by parenting questions and confusing ingredient lists? Duckie is your smart parenting companion—scan products for safety AND chat with your personal AI assistant about your child's

Duckie is a United States-based AI customer support company founded in 2023 building AI support agents platform raising $500K from Y Combinator Andreessen Horowitz Greylock KungHo Fund Netflix plus 5 additional investors achieving 80 percent resolution time reduction 71 percent support ticket deflection participating in Y Combinator Winter 2024 batch based in San Francisco CA targeting customer support teams through AI agent builder enabling tasks processes translation into predictable reliable AI workflows reducing resolution times deflecting tickets automating support operations customer service AI automation workflow creation minutes deployment rapid implementation.

A web application built with AngularJS to track your favorite tv-shows with semi-automagic torrent integration

DuckieTV

Self-driving car simulator for the Duckietown universe

gym-duckietown

duckietown-lx

Source code for our paper "Sim-to-real reinforcement learning applied to end-to-end vehicle control"

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