• Better.co.uk

  Participated · Equity · Feb 2017

  Trussle is a U.K. online mortgage broker that moves the entire mortgage process online to increase transparency and simplify switching and applications. The company uses data and machine learning to power services such as its mortgage monitoring tool, which alerts customers when a cheaper deal is available. Trussle is shifting from a transactional offering to a “lifetime proposition” that supports customers from first thinking about home ownership through ongoing financed ownership. Product development is a major focus — a significant portion of the team is in product — and the company is exploring additional data-driven features (for example guidance on overpaying and repayment dashboards). Trussle also says it may pursue partnerships with other fintech startups aligned to making home ownership more affordable. The team has grown from 14 to 70 people since its Series A in February 2017. Trussle is a London-based online mortgage broker that uses proprietary automation and a mortgage-monitoring service to compare and track thousands of mortgage products from more than 90 lenders. Led by CEO and founder Ishaan Malhi, the company has formed partnerships to integrate home search and financing, notably launching a partnership with property portal Zoopla in September 2016. Further partnerships include comparison site uSwitch, online estate agent HouseSimple, and credit bureau Noddle. FinSMEs reported that Trussle raised £4.5m ($5.68m) in funding. The round was led by Orange Growth Capital with participation from existing investors LocalGlobe, Zoopla and Seedcamp, and angel investors Ed Wray and Ian Hogarth. The company intends to use the funds to further develop the product and continue growing the brand. Trussle is a London-based online mortgage advisor that uses proprietary software to scour thousands of mortgages and recommend the best available deal. Its core product is a free-to-consumer mortgage "matchmaking" service that manages the end-to-end mortgage process if customers proceed. Trussle monetizes via a mostly flat fee paid by mortgage providers rather than charging end customers. The company automates ongoing checks throughout a mortgage’s lifetime and notifies users when they can switch to a better deal, which it says could save customers about £4,000 per year on average. That continual relationship underpins a path to recurring revenue by encouraging more frequent remortgaging. Trussle positions itself as a cheaper, faster, and more transparent alternative to traditional, labour-intensive high-street brokers and aims to scale that model across U.K. homeowners, who it estimates are losing £29 billion a year by failing to re-mortgage.

• Bricklane

  Led · Equity · Sep 2016

  Bricklane operates an end-to-end, data-driven platform to source, underwrite, acquire and manage single-family rental (SFR) portfolios on behalf of institutional investors. The company focuses on renovating and operating private rental homes to improve tenant experience, housing quality and energy efficiency. Bricklane has set ambitious targets to increase energy efficiency by up to 60% across its portfolio and aims to renovate existing stock at scale. It has expanded from working on existing properties into buying new-build properties across the UK using its tech-enabled underwriting and ability to transact quickly. Bricklane reports strong tenant sentiment—75% of its tenants said it offered the best rental experience they had ever had—and was shortlisted for Landlord of the Year at the 2023 RESI Awards. The platform positions improvements in quality and efficiency as drivers of lower turnover, reduced vacancy and higher investor yields. Bricklane’s core product is its Compass technology platform, which enables aggregation of significant residential portfolios at scale. The platform is designed to let institutional investors, wealth managers and individual investors access returns from the UK housing market. The company is extending its real-estate investment solutions for institutional investors and wealth managers and is investing in technology and people to broaden its proposition. The business highlights the UK’s £7 trillion housing market as the opportunity it targets. Management has positioned the Compass platform to make large-scale portfolio accumulation more efficient amid changes in landlord economics. The company also announced senior-team additions alongside its recent fundraising. Bricklane operates an online platform that pools investor capital and puts it into rental properties for tenants, targeted at renters who want to buy their own home. The service offers investors returns on property investments — the company cites an example 6.3% return. At launch Bricklane is making properties in Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester available to invest in, with London planned for the future. The startup was founded by Simon Heawood and Tom Cavill and has recruited a board and advisors from the real estate industry, including former and current executives and directors from Salamanca Group and CBRE Global Investors. Bricklane positions its product as a tech-enabled response to the housing crisis to help 'Generation Rent' get on the ladder earlier than saving with cash. The company has publicly announced external funding to support its launch and rollout.

No current team members are available.