Diane Yu, Founder & CEO, TidalwaveNew York-based Tidalwave, an agentic AI-powered mortgage point-of-sale (POS) platform, has secured a $22 million Series A funding round led by Permanent Capital, with participation from D.R. Horton, Inc., the nation’s largest homebuilder, and a follow-on investment from Engineering Capital. The round brings the company’s total funding to $24 million and marks a major milestone as Tidalwave pushes further into the mortgage technology market.
The mortgage industry continues to grapple with outdated processes that slow down loan origination and inflate operational costs. Despite years of attempted digitization, the average mortgage still takes 43 days to close and requires extensive manual data entry across fragmented systems. Tidalwave aims to change that with agentic AI – autonomous software agents designed to manage end-to-end tasks such as verification and underwriting with minimal manual involvement.
Research from Freddie Mac indicates lenders using digital automation tools can cut origination costs by roughly $1,500 per loan while boosting profit margins and borrower satisfaction. Tidalwave leverages direct integrations with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for instant underwriting checks, as well as Plaid, Argyle, and Truv for real-time verification of income, employment, and assets.
Armed with its new funding, Tidalwave plans to scale rapidly, targeting more than 200,000 loans annually. That volume represents about 4% of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s projection of $1.46 trillion in U.S. mortgage originations for 2026.
In the last six months, major lenders including NEXA Lending, First Colony Mortgage, and Mortgage Solutions have deployed Tidalwave’s AI platform to streamline applications, shorten approval timelines, and introduce a simpler, paperwork-free borrower journey.
“The mortgage industry has long been reliant on disjointed tools and manual intervention, leading to costly delays and errors,” said Diane Yu, CEO and co-founder of Tidalwave. “With this new funding, we’re supercharging the buildout of intelligent AI agents, allowing us to get these tools into the hands of lenders and borrowers faster than ever. By accelerating adoption, we’re not only making the mortgage process more efficient, we’re also ensuring that every stakeholder, from loan officers to homebuyers, experiences the tangible benefits of real, scalable AI in action.”
Jason Duboe, new Tidalwave board member and Co-founder/Managing Partner of Permanent Capital, said, “After evaluating all companies in this category, Tidalwave stood out for its powerful application of real AI to solve a massive, industry-wide problem. Their technology is already delivering measurable impact, and we are confident in their vision to transform the mortgage landscape.”
Mark Winter, CEO of DHI Mortgage, a subsidiary of D.R. Horton, Inc., added, “This partnership represents an alignment of vision, innovation, and execution. Both of our companies share the goal of advancing the mortgage process through AI by empowering our people and providing powerful new tools to enhance quality and efficiency. Over the past few months, we’ve had the privilege of working closely with Diane Yu and her team and we are confident that together we will transform lending for years to come.”
Tidalwave was founded in 2022 by Diane Yu (CEO), Jack Deng (CTO), and Cheng Li (Head of Eng. Operations) with a mission to modernize one of the most inefficient sectors in financial services. Built as an agentic AI company from day one, Tidalwave focuses on eliminating process bottlenecks through intelligent automation and deep integrations with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and verification partners such as Plaid, Argyle, and Truv. By bringing real-time verification and AI-powered borrower guidance – including tailored support for Spanish-speaking clients – the company aims to make homeownership faster, simpler, and more accessible for every borrower.
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