Lloyds Banking Group has led a £10m funding round into growing London-based PropTech Coadjute.
As lead investment partner, Lloyds invested £3m and were joined by NatWest, and Rightmove – the first time that the UK’s three largest mortgage providers have come together to fund a PropTech.
The latest round brings the cumulative investment in Coadjute to £23m since being founded in 2018.
Rightmove analysis shows that it takes an average of five-and-a-half months from a seller accepting an offer until the transaction completes. This is due largely to disconnected parties, manual processes, and closed data.
Coadjute is on a mission to transform this process by bringing estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage lenders, buyers and sellers together onto a single network where data can be shared securely.
This means that important information, from deeds, to digital identity, to financial transactions, can all be exchanged quickly and securely regardless of the system the party involved uses.
The funding will be used to power Coadjute’s national roll-out and expand the scope of the network to include mortgage brokers and lenders.
The partnership follows the PropTech’s recent successful collaboration with the Bank of England, HM Land Registry, and the Bank of International Settlements on Project Meridian, to streamline and digitise the property settlement process.
Dan Salmons, CEO of Coadjute, said: “We’re delighted that the Coadjute network is now being backed by the biggest players in the UK property market, enabling us to further expand our offering and roll out to more home movers and the professionals that serve them.
“Together with the estate agents, conveyancers and brokers joining the network, we hope to transform the experience of moving home in the UK, making it quicker, easier and safer for everyone in the future”
Esther Dijkstra, managing director of intermediaries at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “As the UK’s largest mortgage lender we know buying a home is incredibly rewarding, but it can also be stressful and complicated, particularly if it’s the first time you’ve bought a home.
“To play our part in making things as easy as possible for home buyers, we’ve invested £3m in Coadjute, who are transforming the house buying process by developing technology which brings everyone involved together securely, so homes can change hands smoothly and quickly and people can start enjoying their new home as soon as possible.”
Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s director of home, said: “Buying a home is one of the most complex and stressful things that people will do in their lifetime. The homebuying process needs streamlining into a single, integrated journey for the benefit of consumers and industry participants alike.
“We’re investing in Coadjute because we believe its technology has the potential to achieve this and be a game changer for the property industry.”
Miguel Sard, managing director of One Bank Mortgages at NatWest said: “As a key supporter of the UK housing market, we’re pleased to be supporting Coadjute and delivering clear, practical benefits for homebuyers by making buying and selling homes easier for all parties. We’re continuing to look at innovative ways that we can make it faster and more straightforward for people to own a home.”
Johan Svanstrom, CEO at Rightmove, said: “We see huge potential to digitise and improve the experience of moving home for consumers. We believe Coadjute’s secure and data-driven technology solution can meaningfully remove some of the friction and frustration that lengthy property transactions bring.
“For Rightmove this is also an investment into the potential of a more efficient industry, and to support our agent customers’ further business success. We look forward to working with Coadjute and partners on an exciting and digitally driven home moving process.”