Anthemis and Axel Springer have invested £2 million in UK startup Proportunity, a tech-driven mortgage lender that helps first-time buyers get on the property ladder by removing their biggest barrier to homeownership – large down payments.
Proportunity is modeled on the UK Government's help-to-buy scheme, providing equity loans to first-time buyers who can struggle to raise the 20% deposit needed by most mortgage providers.
Since becoming FCA authorised in 2018, Proportunity has grown to over 5000 users and lent on properties worth over £10M.
As well as providing the loan, the firm also acts as a digital buying agen, using predictive AI and data analytics to help people identify good value properties in up-and-coming areas.
The platform creates smart forecasts on the housing market by crunching millions of data points covering everything from crime and school ratings to broadband speeds and pollution. The aim is to help buyers find houses with the highest level of capital growth.
Vadim Toader, founder and CEO of Proportunity, says: “Home ownership has become a major social divide between those who have benefited from capital growth and those who have not. Our aim is to help open the door of home ownership that has been slammed in the face of a whole generation.
“By broadening equity loans to all housing stock and by using AI to offer insights to select the perfect investment, we want to have a positive social impact that also supports both estate agents and traditional mortgage lenders.
The company intends to use the seed funding to scale its business in the UK and prepare for expansion in Europe, he says.