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withco provides a real estate and technology platform empowering small businesses to own their commercial properties. The company offers a streamlined solution, integrating financial and operational support for independent enterprises through property acquisition. This service allows businesses to build equity, secure long-term stability, and invest in their future.
Founded in 2019 by Kevin Song, withco emerged from the insight that small businesses often generate property value without reaping ownership benefits. Song's vision sought to democratize commercial real estate, allowing these foundational businesses to gain control and accumulate wealth. The company's inception aims to rebalance this dynamic for local economies.
The platform primarily serves small business owners aiming to anchor themselves within communities and secure lasting financial gains. withco's vision is to facilitate widespread property ownership for independent businesses, fostering permanence and enabling generational wealth. The company empowers them to directly participate in economic advantages of physical locations.
withco has raised $28.0M across 1 funding round.
withco has raised $28.0M in total across 1 funding round.
withco has raised $28.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $28.0M Series A in January 2022.
withco is a real estate technology company founded in 2019 that empowers small businesses to own the commercial properties they operate in through a lease-to-own model.[1][3][4] It serves local small business owners facing displacement from rent hikes or evictions, solving the problem of businesses creating neighborhood value without sharing in property wealth by providing financial reviews, budgeting assistance, and a path to ownership that preserves community character.[1][3][5] The company has raised $32M total, including a $28M Series A round two years ago, and remains active at Series A stage with headquarters in New York City.[1][2]
withco was founded in 2019 in New York by entrepreneurs inspired by a personal family story: the founders' parents immigrated to the U.S., bought a Brooklyn grocery store, and lost it weeks after a developer purchased the building, highlighting the vulnerability of small businesses to displacement.[4] This "American story" of hard-working families building neighborhoods only to be pushed out drove the creation of a platform to enable ownership and prevent such fates.[3][4] Early traction came from emerging from stealth with $30M+ in funding from top investors like Founders Fund, Canaan Partners, Initialized Capital, NFX, and celebrities including Venus Williams, Will Smith, and Kevin Durant, marking a pivotal moment in scaling their mission.[2][3][4]
withco rides the real estate tech (PropTech) trend, targeting commercial properties amid a crisis where small businesses—America's "backbone"—are displaced at unprecedented rates from Main Streets to urban centers.[1][3][4] Timing aligns with post-pandemic shifts favoring local ownership for economic resilience, amplified by rising interest rates and investor interest in democratizing real estate access beyond iBuyers or crowdfunding.[1] Market forces like fragmented commercial leasing and small business advocacy (e.g., Small Business Saturday ties) favor withco, influencing the ecosystem by fostering diverse, permanent local economies over transient corporate tenants.[3][4][5]
withco is poised to expand its lease-to-own platform as PropTech matures, potentially scaling beyond New York with its $32M war chest and elite backers amid ongoing small business displacement pressures.[1][2] Trends like community-led real estate and AI-driven qualification tools will shape growth, evolving its influence toward nationwide impact on neighborhood vitality. This mission to "make it exciting to be a small business owner again" ties directly to reclaiming the property value small businesses create.[3][5]
withco has raised $28.0M in total across 1 funding round.
withco's investors include 20VC, 8VC, 9Yards Capital, Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, Addition, Afore Capital, AirAngels, Alchemy Ventures, Alpine Ventures, Alt Capital, Alumni Ventures.
