Eleven proptech start-ups have been named as being at the forefront of the fledgling industry.
An article in Techworld says: “The property industry is ripe for disruption as the estate-agent led business model remains deeply ingrained in the way people buy, sell and rent properties in the UK.”
It says that internet-savvy buyers who are comfortable with the likes of Uber and Airbnb “want an easier way to buy, sell and rent property without dealing with expensive and ineffective estate agents”.
The list of proptechs is headed by Purplebricks, followed by another online agent, Settled.
Co-founder Gemma Young told Techworld: “People aren’t that fond of estate agents as it happens, so it’s a bit of a broken system with very little regulation and wildly different service levels.”
Nested, whose proposition is that if a house does not sell within 90 days it will give the vendor the money, is third in the list.
Fourth is Movebubble, a rental website which originally wanted to cut agents out of the equation but now includes them.
Founder Aidan Rushby told Techworld: “The reality is that they [tenants] will rent the property from wherever it is. The way we look at it, Movebubble is there for the renter and the agent is there for the landlord.”
Rentify, which does cut out agents, is fifth in the list. It allows landlords to post up their properties, perform credit checks and issue tenancy agreements online.
The list also includes Goodlord, also a rental website; Propoly, a messaging service that allows landlords and tenants to communicate without having to go through an agent; deposit replacement product provider Canopy; and Acasa, which helps renters split their utility costs and which rebranded from its original name, Splittable.
Almost all the firms on the list have done substantial fund raising – Rentify, for example, has raised over £8m, Movebubble and Nested both over £2m, and Canopy just under £3m.
https://www.techworld.com/startups/these-11-startups-will-help-you-climb-property-ladder-3632594/
Comments (12)
“Nested, whose proposition is that if a house does not sell within 90 days it will give the vendor the money, is third in the list.”
I wonder how many of their properties sell around 60/70 days then fall through a week or so later, thus avoiding the 90 day penalty……….?
With the nested guarantee, if a property falls through a week later (say, your example of day 70) then the client will still be entitled to their guarantee on day 90.
If nested tie the deal on day 70, even if the buyer is still going through with the legals on day 90, the client can draw down the funds any day after day 90 and still receive the full funds of the property sale when the property does complete.
What happened to the days of self belief and independance thus having the guts to put your own money where your mouth is and finance your work yourself. We that have, ride the roller coaster and have every intention of providing a good service level and a business that will survive for many years to come building good relationships and a trusting name locally.
this crowdfunding is just a replacement for using Daddy’s money to finance a business and you get no respect from real business people for that and you can be cocky because if you fail you can walk away whereas we have employees, creditors,friends,family and pride that can break
Everything that allowed you to type this message; the internet you’re connected to, the keyboard you’re typing on, the screen you’re looking at, the web domain you’re logged into – all of these were start-ups at some point who had people behind them who actually used their own money to begin with before they gained funding (not ‘daddy’s money’) which propelled them into the everyday usage we now have today.
Stop being jealous because you couldn’t do the same.
jealous, You plonker! I and my staff have made a success of the business I own and run and we have a great name, I’m not jealous of any of these and although you miss the point (possibly because you used daddies money heh) I invested in me, I took the gamble on me and all with my own money and the bigger we became and the more successful we reinvested profits to continue gaining growth, thats what you do without crowdfunding as i said Plonker!
that’s cute
‘People aren’t that fond of estate agents…’ Think that needs qualifying with ‘some’ estate agents. ‘Little regulation..’ – well that’s probably the reason why Gemma Young is allowed to start up in the first place!
I really don’t understand this sector. It seems the measure of success is the amount of money a firm can raise or borrow. Whatever happened to delivering value and outstanding service to customers. Whatever happened to making a real profit. The so called value of these businesses is eye watering, I wish I knew how to do it………
This business model has been around since the advent of the Dotcom bubble. It brought about the 2 year business plan,,,come up with an idea, call it tech, hype it and get it funded and run…but the attrition rate on these businesses is very very high! The new buzz words now are ‘disruptor’ and ‘crowdfunding’ and people will fall for it and get burned. These things will play through and it will be survival of the fittest.
The industry does need to wake up however as these new biz models all claim to be disruptive. Everyone talks about service, well, all this week I have been chasing chains and there are a staggering number of un returned calls from agents and those who have, have guessed and another just simply hasn’t bothered to reply to any question at all on an empty brand new house. Name and shame Goadsby’s and don’t get me started on all of the over valued houses that are now being removed from the market, including 1 that was £2.5million overpriced. Whilst this keeps happening, the chancers will line up.
Co-founder Gemma Young told Techworld: “People aren’t that fond of estate agents as it happens, so it’s a bit of a broken system with very little regulation and wildly different service levels.”
Plenty of regulation, just little to no effective enforcement.
Eleven proptech start-ups have been named as being at the forefront of the fledgling industry.
On balance of probability ten will fail.
So to clarify these companies appeal to people who are comfortable with UBER, a company that has had multiple issues with bad working practices, misconduct and sexism. Great comparison….crack on