Online mortgage site raises $15 nillion in second round funding

Real Estate Weekly, April 19, 2000

CapitalThinking, Inc. has closed a $15 million second round of venture capital funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners and RRE Ventures. Real estate industry firms Starwood Financial Inc. and ABP Investments also committed funds.

"Our investors are strategic partners that can help us grow our business," said Heather Shively, co-founder and CEO of CapitalThinking. "Bessemer, RRE Ventures, Starwood Financial and ABP have a great track record of supporting and building the companies in which they invest. They give us a competitive advantage in leading the online commercial mortgage marketplace," she said.

CapitalThinking launched its national online commercial mortgage site on March 1 with over 30 professionals on staff and $70 million of deal flow in the pipeline. Today, the company has $270 million of deals in process.

"We look for companies that will translate an innovative approach into a leadership position in an emerging marketplace," says Bob Goodman, general partner of Bessemer Venture Partners' New York Office. "CapitalThinking's strategy of combining real estate finance professionals with technology to re-engineer the commercial mortgage process makes them a very attractive investment."

Shively and Dr. Charles Ferguson, who is chairman of the company as well as cofounder, incorporated CapitalThinking in July of 1999. Ferguson previously founded Vermeer Technology, which he sold to Microsoft in 1996. Vermeer created one of the world's leading web authoring tools, known today as Microsoft Front Page.

"We like the fact they have their technology in-house," says Stuart Ellman, an RRE Ventures founder. "You can't outsource the ability to invent and modify in a market this complex and fast-moving," he says. "CapitalThinking has the unique ability to listen to its clients and respond immediately with the right solution."

This is the second round of venture capital funding for CapitalThinking. Aberdare Ventures led the company's first-round financing of $3.4 million, raised in September of 1999.