Yes there are companies that will combine a number of investor's cash contributions to make one loan. This is done either with the investors being part of a LLC or with all the investors names on the deed of trust. In either case an additional element of risk is being added to the deal, i.e. the risk that the company controlling the deal will perform as expected.

There are some advantages however; with a legit hard money lender or Trust Deed investment company, the loan will be researched to meet some minimum investment standard (depends on the expertise and ethics of the hard money lender) and you may be able to get into a quality and size of loan you would not with just your investment amount. Further, you may be able to obtain diversification benefits if you have more money to invest.

The trend recently has been to require higher investment amounts. This is due in main part to the SEC and state securities boards clamping down on soliciatation of small investors. The Trust Deed companies find dealing only with accredited investors to be a safer route with running afoul of securities laws a less likely occurance. By having a minimum of $100K investment rather than say $20K the likelyhood of the investor being accredited or at least "sophisticated" is increased. However, If you google "trust deed investments" you will find some companies accepting investors with $20K or even $10K. As in all situations, these companies need to be thoroughly checked before an investment is made. California requires registration for these firms and thereby at least a minimum level of protection is provided.