Vesta Equity — Seed — Dossier — StoryHouse Ventures

One-Liner & Thesis

On-chain Home Equity Investment (HEI) origination on blockchain rails, with a signed channel partnership into Figure’s HELOC turndown funnel. Vesta digitally tokenizes option contracts (UCC Article 12 compliant, not wrapper structures) to fund 5–7 day HEI origination versus the 30–45 day industry standard, and routes settlement through yield-bearing stablecoins on the Provenance blockchain.

Validation: first bilateral on-chain HEI transaction closed January 2026 ($100K, USDC), signed MOU with Figure (5th-largest non-bank HELOC lender, ~$1.4B/month originations, ~70% of decline pool plausibly first-tier eligible), Morgan Creek Digital leading a $5M seed at $17M pre with Sachin Jaitly (boards of Figure and Gemini) joining the Vesta board. June 26, 2026 first-close target on $3M minimum. Outside SH’s usual strike zone (regulated, capital-markets-heavy, multi-stakeholder), but institutional lead, experienced team, and an unusually concrete distribution wedge make it worth a closer look.

Founders

Michael Carpentier

CEO & Co-Founder

25+ years across traditional and digital marketing — Getty Images (analog-to-digital transformation), head of Monster.com Canada, ran a Toronto-based digital marketing firm white-labeling for major ad agencies. Deep financial-services customer-acquisition expertise (credit cards, mortgages, banks). Certified Blockchain Professional; pivoted Vesta from a retail marketplace to the current institutional HEI platform during crypto winter.

Jake Kelley

CIO & Co-Founder

Austin-based, 25 years in capital markets and structured finance — CRE investment across the capital structure, investment banks, and private equity. Launched 3–4 novel financial products including PACE loans and ground leases. Joined Vesta ~18 months ago alongside Samir during the pivot to institutional HEI.

Samir Singh

CPO & Co-Founder

CMC Class of 2000, California attorney. Multiple software startups, former general counsel at a VC-backed company. Real-estate operator with a ~50-door multifamily/single-family portfolio; explicitly motivated by the housing-affordability gap (cites teachers leaving San Diego). Joined Vesta ~18 months ago during the pivot.

Open Questions & Risks

Seven-year company arc with at least one major pivot and chain switch (Algorand → Provenance/Cosmos). Reference (Jerry Chu, Lofty AI) flagged this raises “grant farming” risk and asks why the deck looks substantively similar to where the team was 4 years ago — what real progress and revenue have they shown during that time?
Direct customer-experience signal from a Lofty-routed seller: he reached out to Vesta first to access home equity, but Vesta’s proposed timeline (>1 month) didn’t work, and he closed on Lofty in 2 weeks. The team’s claimed 5–7 day funding cycle is at odds with this.
Margins look thin in the operating layer: 5% “take rate” per $100K HEI, with the team projecting 60% corporate net margins only at ~$1B/year in originations. Path to scale runs through capital markets, securitization, and institutional buy-boxes — a long road.
Crowded, regulated incumbent set (Point, Home Tap, Unlock; Splatero on the securitization side; Blue Owl/Fortress/KKR backing the asset class). Vesta’s edge depends on the Figure partnership converting from MOU into recurring referral volume.
Round is only ~$1.4M committed against $5M target (early March data point); revised data shows Morgan Creek + 6 existing + Starchain + Hildene + Tiny Orange Capital should clear the $3M first-close minimum. Worth confirming wire dates, not just commitments.
Outside SH’s strike zone (real-estate capital markets, blockchain infrastructure); SH check size capped at $500K–$1.5M with no board seat.

Next Steps

Jump on the call Michael proposed for next week to walk through the financial model and the Figure partnership economics in detail.
Pressure-test the Figure MOU: what are the commercial terms, what is the contracted referral volume, and what is the realistic ramp toward recurring origination?
Confirm the syndicate (Morgan Creek, Starchain, Hildene, Tiny Orange, existing investors) is wired-in, not just committed, ahead of the June 26 first close.
Diligence the 4-year progression: revenue, originations, regulatory milestones, and concrete reasons for the chain switch and earlier pivot.
Decide on SH participation level in the $500K–$1.5M range; no board seat.

Latest Meeting Notes

2026-06-10 Email update $3M first close set for June 26

Michael Carpentier laid out the current syndicate shape and Figure partnership progress, and proposed a call next week to review the model.

Close: $5M total, $3M minimum to release funds, target first close 2026-06-26.
Syndicate: Morgan Creek Digital (lead), 6 existing investors, Starchain, Hildene, Tiny Orange Capital — collectively past $3M. Correlation Ventures and several corporate venture groups in diligence for the balance.
Figure partnership: Building the bridge between Figure’s HELOC turndown funnel and Vesta’s HEI onboarding, commercial terms in finalization. Figure originates ~$1.4B/month in approved HELOC volume; turndown rate is well above the 47.8% industry average.
Provenance economics: Built on Provenance, $YLDS yield-bearing stablecoin — benefits Figure via TVL, $HASH gas fees, $YLDS adoption, and digital-native HEI assets usable in Provenance vaults (Hastra, Nuva Finance) alongside Figure HELOCs.
Vesta underwriting: ~70% of Figure’s declined applicants estimated to meet first-tier qualification; final HEI eligibility set by capital partners’ buy-boxes (single buy-box at launch).
Next step: Call next week to walk through financial model and Figure economics.

Source: Meeting Notes recYDk4QxBI7V38IU

2026-03-12 Email · IC follow-up Deck slide and financial model offered for IC

Michael followed up on Jake’s prior margin clarification, sending a deck slide for SH’s IC discussion and offering a walkthrough of the full financial model.

Next step: Walk through detailed financial model on request.

Source: Meeting Notes reclakRlxz5I8Fp4s

2026-03-10 Email · margin clarification 5% is take rate, not net margin

Jake Kelley corrected a verbal misstatement from the prior call: the 5% figure is Vesta’s take rate per $100K invested of LP capital, not corporate net margin.

Take rate: 5% — $5K of revenue per $100K of LP capital invested.
Corporate net margin (projected): ~60% at scale of ~$1B/year in originations — HEI origination only, before any additional asset classes or DeFi applications.
Open question: Path and runway to $1B/year originations is what determines whether the projected margin profile materializes.

Source: Meeting Notes recfoBIRZB80aPI3O

Reference Calls

2026-02-25 Reference call Jerry Chu (Lofty AI) on Vesta — mixed

Jerry Chu, CEO of Lofty AI, has known Michael Carpentier since 2022 (joint Algorand panel). Sent a candid write-up: Vesta is not a direct Lofty competitor today, but the picture is mixed.

Signal: Switching from Algorand to Cosmos may have been substantive — or it may suggest the team had been grant-farming the ecosystem. Worth understanding the real reason.
Concern: The current deck looks largely similar to where Vesta was 4 years ago; ask what revenue / origination progress they actually made during that window. REG A+ / REG D paths don’t require 4 years.
Direct customer signal: One Lofty seller came over after Vesta’s proposed funding timeline (>1 month) didn’t work for him; Lofty turned the same transaction in 2 weeks. Tension with Vesta’s claimed 5–7 day cycle.
Competitive read: Lofty is building a debt feature that lets investors use existing Lofty equity as collateral — a closed-loop ecosystem; targets investors rather than homeowners; will become competitive in the future, not today.

Source: Meeting Notes recRm5XvDlLf9FADM — referenced founder: Samir Singh

Deal Timeline

2026-02-03
Catch-up with Samir Singh; Morgan Creek term sheet in motion at $17M pre / $5M seed.
2026-02-23
Samir shares finalized Morgan Creek term sheet; $1.4M of $5M committed; Sachin Jaitly to join board.
2026-02-25
Reference call: Jerry Chu (Lofty AI) sends mixed read; flags chain switch, 4-year stasis, and customer timeline gap.
2026-03-07
Full-team deck review with Michael, Jake, Samir; first on-chain $100K HEI closed in January 2026; Figure MOU signed.
2026-03-10
Jake clarifies: 5% is take rate, not net margin; corporate net margin projected ~60% at ~$1B/year originations.
2026-03-12
Michael sends deck slide and offers financial-model walkthrough for SH’s IC.
2026-06-10
Syndicate update: past $3M minimum; first close set for 2026-06-26; call proposed next week.