As an immigrant to the United States, the chief executive of Visible, Andrew Borovsky, knows the American Dream — homeownership. 43-year-old Borovsky knows that purchasing a home can be a monumental point in a person’s life but that the American Dream is under duress due to the current housing market.
Existing mortgage rates have been hovering around 8%, which is a percentage that was utterly unfathomable during much of the pandemic housing boom when rates were as low as 3%. Unfortunately, prices have risen substantially since the height of COVID-19. And now, as rates continue to climb, prices are not dropping any lower. The result is something called deteriorated affordability, which is slowly making homeownership a thing of the past. This is causing more and more people to favor renting their homes or renting for even longer than they may have previously planned. To level the field for smaller players and make every transaction cheaper and more efficient, Visible — a Miami-based startup — is constructing a solid financial network and unparalleled operating system.
Borovsky’s company has now raised $15 million despite the turbulent housing market and the inherent fundraising difficulties as a startup. Visible was able to attain their funding through an initial $9 million seed funding raised at their founding last year and a supplementary $6 million raised in a Thrive Capital-led seed extension round in association with Khosla Ventures. Speaking on Visible’s primary focus to take the same element of innovation from nearly everywhere else and grant it to smaller-scale real estate investors, Borovsky said, “Small homeowners just don’t have access to the same data, to the same sort of legal construct, certainly not to the same capital.” He added, “Bring them all together, aggregate them, and give them the tools to fight back.”
Borovsky, who was once a lead product designer for Apple, had forays into starting other companies before Visible, such as a design firm called 80/20, and serving in executive roles at Square, CashApp, and Cadre. Borovsky says he has always focused on empowering entrepreneurs and smaller players throughout his long career. Of his time working with Square and Cadre, Borovsky says, “Democratization of access, giving the little guy access to what the big guys have, is a common theme.” Nowadays, he recognizes a “giant, untapped space” concerning homeowners, or more aptly, mom-and-pop landlords in the United States. Bobrovsky concept identifies Visible as a way to help those smaller property owners routinely squeezed by institutional investors.
Borovsky’s two latest products, Rent App and Property App, hold immense promise for an uncertain housing future. The Rent App allows renters to build credit by reporting on-time payments. The app declares to the three credit bureaus, allowing users to make toward their first home purchase. Property App is poised to be Visible’s umbrella product, serving as an operating system for homeowners. The app looks to enable investing, borrowing, refinancing, and renting. Borovsky says, “At the end of the day, I just want to drive those transaction costs to zero” for homeowners while helping renters build credit effectively. Visible is set to carry out these feats as Borovsky adds, “Cheaper, faster transactions benefit everyone and is maybe one of the steps necessary to unfreeze the market.”
In summary, Andrew Borovsky and his startup, Visible, are tackling the challenges faced by homebuyers in a volatile housing market. With mortgage rates soaring and affordability dwindling, Visible’s innovative solutions, such as the Rent App and Property App, aim to empower smaller real estate investors and renters alike. By reducing transaction costs and improving access to essential financial tools, Borovsky hopes to rejuvenate the American Dream of homeownership and enhance the housing market’s accessibility.
