Nesto Hits $1.5B Valuation on Series E, AI Mortgage Push

Montreal-based online mortgage lender Nesto hit a valuation of nearly $1.5 billion CAD in a Series E round announced Wednesday. The company raised $107 million in primary capital and $195 million in secondary capital.

Nesto said it will use the money to develop AI capabilities and speed up partner onboarding. The round drew new investors La Caisse, Fidelity, Picton Investments, and Endeavor Catalyst. Returning investors Portage, Diagram, NAventures, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Fondaction also participated.

“I think in the AI world today, when you have the … deep knowledge, expertise in a specific vertical, and you marry that with technology and AI solutions, this is where you can make magic happen,” co-founder and CEO Malik Yacoubi told BetaKit.

The funding coincides with the launch of Nesto’s Maestro AI platform. Yacoubi said the tool can underwrite a deal in less than two minutes. Historically, that process took at least a day.

Two years ago, Nesto acquired CMLS Group, the third-largest mortgage finance company in Canada. The deal vaulted the company from a 350-person startup to a 1,100-person firm. Nesto raised an undisclosed Series D round to help with the purchase. Yacoubi did not provide details on that round.

Today, Nesto says it has originated more than $37 billion in mortgages this year and has over $80 billion in mortgages under administration. The company operates profitably across Canada.

Yacoubi described the shift from a direct-to-consumer online mortgage lender to a “mortgage ecosystem” builder that sells white-label tech to Canadian financial institutions. Maestro is the first product from that pivot.