Based out of London, StepLadder, a collaborative deposit raising platform, has raised €1.7 million led by Spanish banking giant BBVA and Anthemis Venture Studio. In addition to it, the early investor Seedcamp and other unnamed angel investors also participated in the round.
Matthew Addison, StepLadder’s founder, and CEO said:
The property market is imbalanced. There are millions of hardworking people out there, who through no fault of their own, find themselves trapped in a cycle of renting. We want to change that, and this funding will help us turn the dream of home-ownership into a reality.
International expansion on cards!
As per the company, the funding will be used to develop its collaborative finance platform and international expansion, as well. While currently the business is focused on the UK market, StepLadder also has long term ambitions to bring its solutions to markets across Europe, including Spain.
Helps struggling renters make the leap!
Founded by Lucy Mullins, Mihir Bhushan, and Peter Rushton in 2015, StepLadder is on a mission to help struggling renters make the leap to homeownership. According to the company, this platform helps 87 percent of its members save for their deposit faster than if they were doing it alone.
How does it work?
The company uses a financial model called ”Rotating Credit and Savings Association” (ROSCA). This UK company works by placing its members into small groups called ”circles”.
In this case, each individual member will contribute an identical amount of money, ranging from €29 to €1,163 each month. The contributions will then be collected into a central pot, before being awarded to one of the circle’s members by random draw.
The random draw is taken care of by the computer algorithms with absolute impartiality. The process is repeated on a monthly basis until all the circle’s members have received their deposit money.
Help users to knowledge and discounts!
In addition to the deposit raising, StepLadder also guides the users through the home-buying process by providing access to knowledge and exclusive discounts.
With €58,000 being awarded to members each month and over €580,000 in subscriptions from StepLadder members in total – the company is on the way to making ‘Generation Rent’ a thing of the past.
On top of that, StepLadder will work with BBVA and Anthemis inside their joint London-based venture studio on an innovative approach to bringing a trusted model of collaborative finance into a digital platform.
Farhan Lalji, principal of the BBVA & Anthemis Venture Creation Partnership, said:
The teams at BBVA and Anthemis are really excited to work with the founders of StepLadder. We’ve seen their commitment to solving this problem up close and we know that our combined efforts will dramatically change the landscape for savings and homeownership in a major way in a short amount of time.
Main image credit: StepLadder
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