A London startup aiming to provide renters with affordable credit options to finance deposits has shut down.
Fronted, founded in 2019 and which featured at No.40 on our PropTech 50 ranking last year, has been hit by the rises in interest rates and spiralling property prices.
The open banking finance solution, which launched on Yobota’s core banking platform in February 2021, allowed customers to pay back deposits on a monthly basis.
“After an incredible journey together, we’re saying farewell to Fronted,” a statement credited to CEO Jamie Campbell says on the company’s website.
“Thank you for being a part of our journey, your support made it all possible.”
Campbell is a former employee at Bud Financial, while his co-founders Simon Vans-Colina and Anthony Mann formerly worked at Monzo and Apple respectively.
The firm raised over £20 million of debt and equity funding led by Fasanara Capital two years ago. Backers include Passion Capital, TrueSight Ventures and The Future Fund.
“We knew that we had good results when customers were paying around about £50 for it, but the shift in the market meant we couldn’t offer it for less than £100, and the price elasticity for our customers just wasn’t there,” Campbell told Tech.eu.