OwnHome, an Australian rent-to-own scheme for millennials, has bagged $3.6 million in funds from investors including Global Founders Capital, Entrée Capital, AfterWork and InVentures.
OwnHome is co-founded by Tim Harley, who led the expansion of Wise into the Middle East, and fellow entrepreneur James Bowe.
The pair secured start-up funding through the Commonwealth Bank’s x15 Xccelerate programme, walking away with £150,000 after grabbing the top spot in a startup competition hosted by the venture unit.
In a nutshell, OwnHome buys a property for the customer. This customer is able to move into the home straight away and simply make a monthly payment to OwnHome. Within the first three to seven years, the customer is able to buy the property off OwnHome at a pre-agreed price.
Bowe says that OwnHome is the solution for aspiring homeowners who are facing soaring property prices in the face of stagnant wage growth.
“It takes up to a decade longer to save a deposit than it did 50 years ago and more and more homebuyers, if they have the option, are relying on the bank of Mum and Dad to get onto the property ladder." he says. “OwnHome is the only rent-to-own model that provides a path to home ownership in the area you want to live in that doesn’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars for a deposit.”
The company has set up a waitlist and will open initially for properties in Sydney.