Ankur Jain (Bilt) on Turning Rent Into Rewards, Raising $250M, and Reinventing the Path to Homeownership
What if paying rent could actually help you own a home someday? That’s exactly the idea Ankur Jain ran with when he launched Bilt Rewards, the first loyalty program that lets renters earn points on rent—and it’s now backed by over 2 million units nationwide, plus Mastercard, Wells Fargo and more.
Sammi sits down with Ankur to unpack how he built one of the most disruptive fintech startups in the housing space, why homeownership is getting harder for younger generations, and how Built is changing that. From navigating brutal regulatory red tape to raising $250 million in funding, Ankur shares what it really takes to scale a company that aims to fix real-world problems.
He also opens up about his time at Tinder, his immigrant roots, the flaws of traditional venture capital, and his unbelievable wedding at the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Here’s what Sammi covers with Ankur:
00:00 Ankur Jain’s Social Currency
02:04 Ankur's Time at Tinder
03:55 How Private Companies Can Solve Public Problems
14:08 COVID-19’s Unexpected Impact on Bilt
18:12 Ankur’s 18 Months in DC Tackling Regulatory Hurdles
22:42 Building a Complex Ecosystem
26:37 The Bilt Model and Connecting Renters with Merchants
31:36 Ankur’s Take on Fundraising
38:14 Surprising Gen Z and Millennial Money Habits
41:55 The Benefits of Working with Friends
44:27 The Future of Living
46:31 Social Currency Corner
47:58 The Wedding of the Century
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