Project Own

What Project Own does

Project Own, Inc. is a Baltimore-based nonprofit technology organization founded in 2019 and incorporated in the United States, operating with a 1–10 person team. Its mission is to build tools aimed at closing the Black-White homeownership gap, which the company states is wider today than in 1968. Revenue is generated entirely through philanthropic grants and donations; the organization is supported by funders including Terner Labs, France-Merrick, Goldseker Foundation, CTIA Wireless Foundation, Bloomberg, Truist Foundation, T. Rowe Price, and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, with a $25,000 Fast Forward grant recorded on March 6, 2025.

The company's sole product is Rooted, a digital mortgage readiness platform launched in March 2024. Rooted is a mobile-friendly web application with text-messaging capability that provides self-serve tooling to improve credit, savings, and debt, paired with one-on-one virtual financial coaching delivered by HUD-certified housing counselors rather than AI. The platform is offered free to end clients and is distributed exclusively through HUD-certified nonprofit housing counseling agency partners such as GO-Northwest, NHS Baltimore, and Financial Education Associates. Privacy disclosures indicate collection of identity, demographic, device, and financial information including credit score, savings balances, and income, governed by a privacy policy most recently updated November 2023.

Since launch, Rooted has been used by over 1,800 households across five U.S. states; reported demographics are 72% Black, 73% female, and 92% first-time homebuyers. The go-to-market is a pure channel-partner model with no direct-to-consumer sales motion, and marketing activity is limited to partner referrals and an email newsletter. There is no disclosed revenue, no venture or private-equity investment, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no certifications, patents, or regulatory actions recorded in the source data.

Name

Project Own

Legal name

Project Own, Inc.

Website

https://projectown.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Project Own is a Baltimore-based nonprofit that builds Rooted, a free digital mortgage readiness platform distributed through HUD-certified housing counseling agencies to help Black and first-time homebuyer households improve credit, savings, and debt before homeownership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mortgage Readiness Software

NAICS

Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (5223)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing / Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Mortgage Origination (FSALAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Reverse Mortgage Counseling & Consumer Education (HUD-Approved) (FSALAIAG)

Keywords

• Digital mortgage readiness
• Homeownership preparation software
• Credit building platform
• Housing counseling technology
• Financial coaching tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grant and Donation Funding: Project Own operates as a nonprofit organization funded by grants and donations. The Rooted platform is provided free of charge to clients. Revenue is generated through philanthropic support rather than fees from end users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Project Own provides the Rooted digital mortgage readiness platform, a mobile-friendly web application with text messaging support that delivers self-serve tools to improve credit, savings, and debt alongside one-on-one virtual financial coaching from human counselors. The platform is distributed exclusively through HUD-certified nonprofit housing counseling agencies and offered free of charge to client households seeking homeownership.

Product overview

Project Own operates as a single-product organization focused on Black wealth creation through homeownership. The company offers one main product, Rooted, a digital mortgage readiness platform designed to equalize access to homeownership. Rooted is distributed through partnerships with HUD-certified nonprofit housing counseling agencies and provides virtual financial coaching, self-service financial tools, and mobile/text-based access entirely free to end clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rooted: Digital mortgage readiness platform distributed through HUD-certified nonprofit housing counseling agencies, offering one-on-one virtual financial coaching, self-serve tools to improve credit, savings, and debt, accessible via mobile-friendly website and text messaging, free for clients to use.

Products and services

• Rooted Rooted is a digital mortgage readiness platform delivered as a mobile-friendly web application with text messaging support. It provides self-serve tools to improve credit, savings, and debt, and integrates one-on-one virtual financial coaching from human counselors at HUD-certified nonprofit housing counseling agencies. The platform is free for client households and is intended for first-time homebuyers, particularly Black families, preparing for homeownership.

Quantifiable outcome

• Served over 1,800 households across five states since March 2024 launch
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• HUD-Certified Housing Counseling AgenciescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProject Own distributes the Rooted digital mortgage readiness platform exclusively through HUD-certified nonprofit housing counseling agencies. These partner organizations provide one-on-one virtual financial coaching to clients using the Rooted platform, enabling access to underserved Black communities seeking homeownership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Self Financial: Credit-building fintech using secured cards and installment loans to improve consumer credit. Comparable emerging player addressing credit-improvement for subprime consumers, one of Rooted's three primary functional pillars.
• Down Payment Resource: Technology platform that matches homebuyers with down payment assistance and affordable mortgage programs. Comparable because it serves the same pre-purchase homebuyer journey but addresses financing access rather than credit/savings readiness.

Direct peers

• Framework Homeownership: Nonprofit housing counseling organization focused on homeownership readiness for underserved buyers. Directly comparable mission and delivery model to Project Own's HUD-counselor-led mortgage preparedness flow.
• Money Management International (MMI): HUD-approved housing counseling agency offering pre-purchase education, credit counseling, and debt management. Comparable target customer (first-time, credit-constrained homebuyers) and comparable service delivery through certified counselors.
• NeighborWorks America: National network of nonprofit housing counseling and affordable homeownership organizations. Directly comparable because Project Own's HUD-certified housing counseling agency channel operates within the same NeighborWorks-affiliated ecosystem and serves the same first-time, lower-income homebuyer segment.
• Clearpoint Credit Counseling Solutions: HUD-approved nonprofit credit and housing counseling agency. Directly comparable because it delivers pre-purchase housing counseling and credit-building services through human counselors, mirroring Rooted's coaching-plus-tools model.
• GreenPath Financial Wellness: HUD-approved nonprofit credit counseling and financial wellness provider. Comparable because it combines human financial counseling with digital tools to help consumers improve credit, savings, and debt — the same problem set Rooted addresses for prospective homebuyers.

Broad incumbents

• Credit Karma: Large consumer credit-monitoring and personal finance platform. Comparable as a broad incumbent that addresses credit-score improvement — a core Rooted use case — but lacks Project Own's mission focus and HUD-counselor integration.
• Experian Boost: Credit-score improvement feature from a major credit bureau. Comparable broad incumbent providing self-serve credit-improvement tooling, overlapping with one component of Rooted's offering but without housing-counselor distribution.

Others

• Fannie Mae HomeReady / Freddie Mac Home Possible: Government-sponsored affordable mortgage programs with required homebuyer education. Comparable because they sit upstream of Rooted in the same affordable-homeownership journey and often require counseling that partner agencies deliver.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/project-own

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Project Own