Ribbon Home

Ribbon Home was founded in 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Shaival Shah and Wei Gan to help homebuyers make all-cash offers.²³⁴ The company raised significant funding and expanded to multiple states, but rising mortgage rates in 2022 led to a slowdown and layoffs.²⁶⁷ Ribbon paused its original operations in late 2022, was acquired by EasyKnock in 2023, and its assets were later acquired by Hurst Lending in 2025.^2681018

Timeline

Money raised

Ribbon Home raised a $4.4 million seed round on October 18, 2017.¹⁰ Ribbon Home raised a $20 million Series A round on October 25, 2018.¹⁰ Ribbon announced it had raised $225 million in total funding on October 26, 2018.¹¹ Ribbon Home raised a $30 million Series B round on October 29, 2019.¹⁰ Ribbon Home raised an $80 million Series C round on June 29, 2021, at a $507.45 million post-money valuation.¹⁰ Ribbon raised $150 million in Series C equity and working capital on September 16, 2021.³ Ribbon raised $130 million in equity funding and $500 million in credit facilities, totaling $630 million.¹⁴

Investors named in the sources: Greylock Partners³⁹¹⁰¹¹, Bain Capital Ventures³¹⁰¹¹, NFX³¹⁰¹¹, Nyca Partners³¹⁰, Thomvest Ventures³¹⁰, Greenspring Associates³¹⁰, First American Financial³, Waterfall Asset Management³, TriplePoint Capital³, 75 & Sunny Ventures³¹⁰, Jake Seid³, Gary Beasley³, Gregor Watson³, Guy Gal³.

What happened

Ribbon Home was founded in 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Shaival Shah and Wei Gan.²³⁴ The company's model was to make cash offers on behalf of homebuyers, then sell the homes to the buyers once they obtained mortgages.²⁷ Ribbon operated as a 'power buyer' that backed buyer offers with cash.² Ribbon worked exclusively through real estate agents, positioning itself as a tool for agents rather than a competitor.⁶ The company expanded to major Southeastern US markets including the Carolinas, Georgia, and Texas.⁶

By 2021, Ribbon operated in six states: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida.³ Ribbon's agent-centric model generated strong transaction volumes through 2021.⁶ Between 2019 and 2022, Ribbon secured over $330 million in financing and extended operations to 11 states.² In 2022, mortgage rates surged from under 4% to nearly 7%, causing deal volume to slow significantly.² Access to capital dried up for Ribbon in 2022.²

Ribbon laid off nearly 18% of its staff and retained only about 30 employees before winding down operations.² In August 2022, Ribbon announced it was shutting down its core cash-offer business and laying off the majority of its staff.⁶ Ribbon attempted to pivot to a financing and mortgage product without the cash-offer component.⁶ The core differentiator of guaranteed cash offers was wound down.⁶ As of November 2022, Ribbon Home had shut down operations.⁸

In 2023, Ribbon was acquired by EasyKnock after industry-wide restructuring and consolidation.² Ribbon Home completed its merger and acquisition with EasyKnock on May 8, 2023.¹⁰ In 2025, Dallas-based Hurst Lending acquired Ribbon Home's assets and homebuying technologies.² Hurst Lending announced the acquisition of key assets of Ribbon Home on July 3, 2025.¹⁸ Hurst Lending relaunched RibbonHome.com as a division focused on alternative home financing.¹⁸

Ribbon's original programs (Boost, Reserve, and Rescue) were discontinued.² Hurst Lending integrated its own programs, including Buy Before You Sell, Cash Offer Loan, and Just Missed Bridge Loans.¹⁸ Ribbon is currently available in 13 states under Hurst Lending.² In February 2023, Ribbon owned nearly 400 homes after customers backed out of purchases.⁷ Ribbon let go of about 170 employees, or 85% of its staff, but still needed to unload its surplus of houses.⁷

About half of those homes Ribbon planned to sell on the open market because customers didn't follow through on purchases.⁷ The other half Ribbon hoped to sell to the original customers, most of whom were renting from Ribbon.⁷ Ribbon halted its cash-buyer program in 2022 and said it was developing new products before restarting.⁷ Ribbon's original model involved buying homes and renting them back to buyers if financing fell through.² Under Hurst Lending, Ribbon operates as a lender, with borrowers fully owning their properties throughout the process.²

Ribbon's new programs cost a flat fee between 1% and 1.5% of the loan amount.² Ribbon's original service fee was 1% of the purchase price for its standard cash offer service.⁸ Ribbon Reserve cost 2-2.75% of the home purchase price.⁸ Ribbon Rescue cost 3.25% of the home purchase price.⁸ Ribbon had an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and a 4.5 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot across 152 reviews.⁸

Some customers complained about delays and lack of communication in 2021.⁸ Ribbon's original venture-backed operations paused in late 2024.¹

Where the founders are now

Shaival Shah was the CEO and co-founder of Ribbon Home.³⁴ Wei Gan was the CTO and co-founder of Ribbon Home.⁴⁹ Shaival Shah said in February 2023 that people backed out of purchases because they didn't want to sell their current homes in a down market, had credit issues, or had a life event that changed their plans.⁷

Sources

1. Is Ribbon Home Still Operating? Yes — Ribbon Home Is Live, Ribbon Home, 2025-12-23
2. Ribbon Home Review: Can It Help You Buy a Home with Cash?, Clever Real Estate, 2024-12-03
3. Ribbon Raises Another $75M to Enable Buyers to Make Competitive Housing Offers Without Contingencies, AlleyWatch, Sep 16, 20
4. Ribbon — venture-backed company profile, dealroom.co
6. Why Ribbon Home Failed: Timing | Startup Autopsy, UnicornBurn, 2022-01-01
7. Home-buying companies stuck with hundreds of houses as demand slows | Company Business News, mint, 2023-02-07
8. Ribbon Home: Reviews, Fees, & More, Anytime Estimate, 2023-02-10
9. Why Greylock invested in Ribbon, Alexander Jarvis, 2024-06-19
10. Ribbon Home IPO Timeline and Financing Details - Forge, forgeglobal.com
11. Ribbon Home Raises $225M, vcnewsdaily.com
14. Wei Gan Raised $630M — Founder Story & Lessons, startupfundraising.com, Aug 14, 20
18. Hurst Lending Acquires Ribbon | RibbonHome Relaunch News, Hurst Lending, 2025-06-16

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