CrowdProperty: Australian arm gears up for seed round as UK raises 1.8m

Written by PR Newswire

SYDNEY, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As CrowdProperty Australia gears up for a seed round raise in August, its UK counterpart oversubscribed a raise by 227 percent, securing £1.8m.

Seeking to raise $1.25m in seed funding in August, CrowdProperty Australia is confident about the prospects for marketplace lending for SME property developments.

Chief executive and co-founder of the Australian operation David Ingram believes the UK's success in its first seven years demonstrates the potential for scaling the Australian business.

"This is the third time our UK joint venture partners have raised capital, oversubscribing each time," Mr. Ingram said.

"Our pre-seed round for CrowdProperty Australia was also oversubscribed by 50 percent and we already have strong interest in our upcoming seed round."

Since launch in May 2021, CrowdProperty Australia has already reviewed over $100m worth of SME property projects and financed three projects for over $2.3m. Meanwhile, its UK colleagues recently secured a £300m institutional funding line and completed a hat trick of records in May, lending £8.3m, paying back £7.5m, and receiving £285m of funding applications from SME property professionals.

The UK business has now funded the development of 1,535 homes worth £309m, originating £187m of agreed facilities and lending £145m to date.

Mike Bristow , CEO of CrowdProperty UK and director of the Australian joint venture, said the firm has proven the profitability of the business model in recent years while still investing in growth.

"We've again proven we can scale rapidly and add considerable value with equity capital investment," Mr. Bristow said.

"This round is to further step change the business and to realise our potential quicker in our mission to transform property finance — to unlock the power of SME property developers, to build more homes, increase spend in the economy, and ever more efficiently and effectively match the supply and demand of capital for the benefit of all.

"We have built a very strong pipeline that currently stands at £322m of progressed quality lending opportunities in the UK, and we see the Australian pipeline growing strongly. All of this is underpinned by a highly scalable, in-house built, proprietary technology platform, scalable capital sources and deep expertise in exactly the asset class being lent against."

CrowdProperty Australia offers wholesale investors (including eligible SMSFs, trusts and companies) and institutional groups with opportunities to invest in high quality, residential property projects via its bespoke platform and in-house property development expertise. As a marketplace lending platform, it offers investors a way to earn up to seven percent target interest returns* on short term investments secured by first mortgage, typically paying back in 12 to 18 months.

*Target returns, not forecast returns. For wholesale investors only. Terms, conditions, and risks apply.

DISCLAIMER

The CrowdProperty Investment Trust (the Trust) is an unregistered managed investment scheme. The Trust is only available to investors that are wholesale clients as defined in s761G of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Investors pledge their funds in the Trust which makes first mortgage secured loans to SME property developers.

Withdrawals can only be made when the Investor funds are in Cash Interests in the Trust. Refer to the Information Memorandum (IM) for more information.

CrowdProperty Pty Ltd (ACN 633 516 195) is the investment manager of the Trust (Investment Manager). The Investment Manager is a corporate authorised representative (No. 001285637) of Quay Wholesale Fund Services Pty Ltd AFSL No. 528 526, ACN 647 044 602. The Investment Manager's authority under its Corporate Authorised Representative Agreement with Quay Wholesale Fund Services Pty Ltd is limited to general product advice regarding the Trust only. Quay Wholesale Fund Services Pty Ltd is the trustee of the Trust and the issuer of its IM (Trustee).

The contents of this document are not intended as financial product advice and have been prepared without taking into account your personal circumstances, investment objectives or particular needs. You should read the Information Memorandum for the Trust in full to consider whether an investment is appropriate for you.

Neither the Investment Manager, Quay Wholesale Fund Services Pty Ltd, nor the Trustee guarantee the repayment of capital, the performance of any investment or the rate of return for the Trust. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance. An investment in the Trust is not a bank deposit and is subject to greater risk than cash investment products including loans of income and part or all of the capital itself.

We strongly suggest that you seek your own professional financial or legal advice prior to any investment decisions.

Media enquiries: Jamie Millar — +61 0421 273 673 | jamie.millar@crowdproperty.com.au ^[1]

About CrowdProperty Australia: CrowdProperty is a leading online lending platform providing finance to small-to-medium property developments through peer-to-peer funding. We meet the need for finance from property professionals who build high quality property developments, with a source of funds from sophisticated and institutional investors (our lenders). www.crowdproperty.com.au ^[2]