OnTheMarket’s announcement on Friday that it had conditionally raised £30m through a placing of ordinary shares, rather than the £50m it had originally aimed for, could have repercussions for the windfall due to boss Ian Springett.

It had been reported that founding CEO Springett’s 3.9m shares in the business could be worth around £20m if it achieved the valuation of £200m to £250m it originally expected.

But the company last week revealed that its market capitalisation on admission to the AIM market would be a more modest £100m, with a launch share price of 165p.

That means that Springett’s windfall could also be rather more modest, although his shares will still be worth an estimated £6.45m.

He is likely to be “locked in” for a period of time, during which he will not be able to sell his shares.

News of OnTheMarket’s lower valuation did not impress estate agent Graeme Lumsden, who launched an ultimately doomed bid to campaign against a vote to float OnTheMarket, arguing that the demutualisation of Agents Mutual would take power away from the original members.

Lumsden said: “In response to the news of OTM falling £20m short of its much-hyped £50m target, I’m sure that if the OTM AIM vote was run again, knowing what we know now, the outcome would be different.

“However, we swallowed the hype offered and now witness the disappointing reality.”

Nor did George Salmon, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, appear convinced.

He said: “Backed by estate agents themselves, the launch of OnTheMarket in 2015 was meant to disrupt the duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla. The group is now the UK’s third biggest portal, but all this really means is that it’s first among the also-rans.

“The challenge of toppling Rightmove remains a significant one.”

Springett clearly doesn’t see it that way, despite the fact that his pockets may feel a little lighter following the flotation than he may originally have hoped.

As part of Friday’s announcement, he said: “The IPO will enable us to implement our marketing plans to build brand awareness and portal usage as well as to invest to scale up the supporting organisation and infrastructure to the benefit of consumers, agents and investors.”

Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph yesterday put a “buy” rating on ZPG, the parent company of OTM’s rival Zoopla.

Columnist James Ashton said: “In housing, ZPG counts 25,000 estate agencies among its customer base, and reports that some are returning from its rival OnTheMarket website.

“There is a theory that a slower housing market means fewer branches, which would be bad for business.

“A counter view is that agents will have to invest more to shift their stock.

“In addition to listing homes on its portal, ZPG offers various software, printing and data add-ons.

“An average customer buys 1.4 of these products and the company is bullish it can carry on cross-selling.”