Week 48: Yifan Zhang, Loftium
I’ve come to realize that in your late 20s and early 30s, where you “are” in life varies significantly from that of your peers. Some may be married, with or without kids, live in a major city or opted for a move to the suburbs. Regardless of lifestyle choices, and to some extent, career paths, I see very few people from mid 20s to early 30s owning homes. This may be largely due to the fact that I graduated in the height of the recession, where incomes dropped significantly, coupled with the rising cost of education. Yet the one truism I have noticed is that almost everyone wants to own a home. Paying rent each month feels as though you are throwing away money. Even with our transient lifestyles, we long for a place to call home, one that is uniquely ours. I spoke this week to Yifan Zhang, founder of Loftium, who is trying to make this ubiquitous dream a reality. Lofitum provides down payments for people who are hoping to buy a home but can’t, in exchange for a revenue split of the profits made from housing an Airbnb occupant.
It’s no secret that the housing market in cities like San Francisco, New York, and Seattle are skyrocketing, but cities like these also have the most job opportunities for young professionals. Home ownership feels out of reach, and the rising rental prices aren’t helping (the rent really is too damn high). Even for young adults with stable incomes, most of the time the down payment proves to be too high of a barrier to overcome. While some people are fortunate enough to have parents that can help with this, many have to go at it alone. This disparity continually breeds inequality, and Loftium is working to reset the bar, starting first in Seattle. I look forward to watching the company grow, and hope they quickly move on to NYC.
Stage 👉 Seed, led by DFJ (read more about their investment here)
Location 👉 Seattle
Industry 👉 Real Estate & Finance
“All of culture comes from the top. You have to be ready to live the values you create as a founder.”
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- How Loftium was inspired by Yifan’s own experience when she and her husband moved to Seattle and started renting out a spare bedroom
- The new market Loftium has created for home buyers, and the company’s initial traction since its recent launch
- The pros and cons to growing a real estate, and fintech, focused start up in Seattle
- Yifan’s parents’ emigration from China, and her memories of when they purchased their first home
- What Yifan’s first venture, Pact, taught her about motivating users, why she decided to recently shut it down, and what she plans on doing differently this time around
- The skills Yifan learned from going through Techstars with Pact, and why she decided not to go through it again with Loftium
Catch the end of the show, where Yifan shares the Seattle startup she loves, and the founder she’d most want to interview (it’s a new one)!
P.S. Thanks to 52 Founders alumn Ben Gilbert for the intro!
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