National Australia Bank's venture capital arm has joined a $9 million Series A financing round for BrickX, a real estate investment platform that lets people pay small sums for slices of properties.
Launched to retail investors in 2016, BrickX offers Australians the chance to invest as little as a few hundred dollars for part ownership of a residential property.
Brickx invests in properties through trusts and then splits them into thousands of units - bricks - which are sold to retail investors for small sums.
Investors get a cut of rental income on the properties they own a slice of and can also sell their bricks on the platform at market rates.
The startup currently offers 14 properties in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and has around 9000 members, although it claims numbers are growing fast since it scored an investment from another big bank - Westpac - late last year.
Anthony Millet, CEO, BrickX, says: "Considering the recent volatility in the cryptocurrency and stock markets, Australians are recognising the longer-term stability of property prices."
Todd Forest, MD, NAB Ventures, adds: "The aspiration for property ownership has long been the Australian dream, however buying a property often has challenges for many consumers - such as the rise in house prices in some areas and trying to save for a deposit.
"BrickX is disrupting this journey, in how it provides consumers with access to the property market and engages with them in creating a pathway to property ownership."