The Tallinn-based fintech start-up EstateGuru has received 880,000 euros from the investing platform Seedrs, vastly exceeding its original target of 350,000 euros. This funding is part of the company’s larger Series A round which has so far raised five million euros from various investors.
“We’re delighted to see that so many people around the world believe in alternative financing and new business models. Our campaign happened to go live during the deepest crisis and yet, over 1,000 people from 37 countries trusted and supported us,” says Marek Pärtel, founder and CEO of EstateGuru.
“The largest number of investors came from Germany, where we have our biggest platform investor community as well, followed by Great Britain, Estonia, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Great Britain also happens to be on our priority list for expansion,” adds Pärtel.
Founded in 2013, EstateGuru is a platform for short-term property-backed loans which functions as a pan-European marketplace where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can get loans from investors.
It connects different service providers, SMEs, and investors in one single marketplace and allows for a seamless, cross-border, and digital service for borrowers and lenders.
So far, the company has grown twofold every year and has become continental Europe’s largest property lending marketplace. To date, the start-up has facilitated more than 200 million euros in loans. EstateGuru has a growing base of investors — currently there are 46,000 from 106 countries.
Those investors have so far enjoyed a stable 11.8 per cent annual return on a zero loss of capital over the start-ups six years of operations.
The loans are secured through mortgages while a team of real estate professionals reviews the viability of each project before it is released to investors.
Currently, the majority of the company’s revenue comes from success fees and administration fees paid by borrowers when funding is successful.
EstateGuru is the first Estonian company to be successfully funded on the Seedrs platform.
“We’re so pleased to see EstateGuru’s success on the Seedrs platform. EstateGuru saw a high level of interest in their webinars and discussion forum and I’d like to congratulate the EstateGuru’s team for such an outstanding campaign,” says Tom Field, investment associate at Seedrs.
The funds will be used by EstateGuru to expand geographically, with Finland and Germany being its main targets, and to develop an ambitious technology roadmap.
Additionally, the company hopes to boost the participation of institutional investors.
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