Monday, October 11, 2010
Skyline Financial Raises $8.2M From GRP, Others
Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners--which has been very active in the local technology startup market--has made its latest investment, in an interesting industry: mortgage lending. GRP is the lead investor in Skyline Financial, a Calabasas-based provider of mortgage banking and lending. According to Skyline, the investment, $8.2M in a Series B, was led by GRP Partners and also included Chaparal Investments and Dallas Capital Management. The new funding will go towards mortgage origination, hiring seasoned loan officers, and acquisition of mortgage brokerage firms. Skyline is headed by Bill Dallas, who co-founded First Franklin, a mortgage bank acquired by Bank of America for $232M in 1999. GRP's Brian McLoughlin joins Skyline's board of directors with the investment. GRP--which has mostly been making technology investments locally--is not a stranger to the finance world, having backed BillMeLater, which it sold to eBay for over a billion dollars. The firm also recently backed a payment card firm WaveCrest, based in Gibraltar. More information »