Opendoor co-founder Eric Wu is stepping down to return to his startup roots | TechCrunch

Opendoor co-founder Eric Wu is stepping down from the real estate tech company, according to an SEC filing.

In a statement, Wu said: “After ten years, I am called to get back to my startup roots and create and build again. I’m humbled by this accomplishment and grateful for all my teammates who helped shape the product, culture, and company.”

Wu will remain an advisor to the company and the board. Even during this time at Opendoor, he was an active investor. According to Crunchbase, Wu has invested in dozens of companies, including Airtable, Scribe, Roofstock and the now-defunct Zeus Living.

The executive had gradually been decreasing his executive responsibilities at nine-year-old Opendoor. Last December, Wu announced he was stepping down from his role as CEO to serve as Opendoor’s president of marketplace. 

The company, as many others operating in the real estate space, has had some challenges as mortgage interest rates have soared to nearly 8% — making it harder for people to buy homes. 

In November 2022, Opendoor announced it was letting go of about 550 people, or 18% of the company, across all functions. 

At that time, Wu said his company was navigating “one of the most challenging real estate markets in 40 years.”

Opendoor went public in late December 2020 after completing its planned merger with the SPAC Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings II, headed by investor Chamath Palihapitiya. That was after the company had raised about $1.3 billion in equity funding and nearly $3 billion in debt financing. Investors include General Atlantic, the SoftBank Vision Fund, NEA, Norwest Venture Partners, GV, GGV Capital, Access Technology Ventures, SV Angel and Fifth Wall Ventures, along with others.

Founders include Wu and Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois.

This has been a week of founder departures. On Thursday, TechCrunch broke the news that Credit Karma co-founder Nichole Mustard would be stepping down from the company after more than 16 years. Jack Altman also announced he would be stepping down from Lattice, a software startup he founded in 2015. Altman told Business Insider that he wanted “to return to the early stages of building a company.”

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