Property Partner, the residential property crowdfunding platform, has announced a £5.2m funding round to transform the way people invest in the residential property market.
The London-based startup aims to enable people to invest as much or as little as they like in individual residential properties by “bringing innovation and simplicity to a previously hard-to-access marketplace”.
The investment, headed by Index Ventures, will allow Property Partner to produce a ‘global stock exchange’ for residential property, enabling them to offer properties throughout the UK and beyond.
Index Ventures, who invest in FinTech pioneers such as TransferWise, Funding Circle and Wealthfront – will combine with Property Partner’s current partners. These include Seedcamp (backers of TransferWise), Ed Wray (co-founder of Betfair) and Octopus Ventures (backers of Zoopla).
Property Partner, which only launched in January 2015, at present lists properties in London and the South-East of England, properties that are chosen by Robert Weaver, Director of Property. Weaver is RBS’ former Global Director of Residential Investment and previously ran a £500m residential property fund.
As things stand, over 1,000 people have invested amounts ranging from £50 to £50,000 in homes through Property Partner’s crowdfunding platform, with the average size of investment increasing continually since its launch.
Property Partner has already witnessed considerable activity on its unique ‘resale’ market, where investors can buy and sell shares in fully-funded properties.
Daniel Gandesha, Property Partner’s CEO, commented: “Index are a great investor to have on board, with really deep experience in both fintech and cross-border growth. I can’t imagine anyone better placed to help us deliver our long-term vision for Property Partner – as a global stock exchange for residential property.”
He added: “We are convinced that this model for property investing is a highly attractive alternative to buying properties directly. We also believe strongly in providing tenants with a more professional service, because tenants who are treated well and fairly are more likely to stay longer.”
