Property tech start-up Settled wins backing from lastminute.com investor and launches £1m fundraise
An online property platform aiming to shake-up the traditional estate agency model by encouraging landlords take control of their own sales has launched a £1m funding round, after winning the backing of one of the UK's leading tech investors.
Settled was launched last year by brother and sister team Gemma and Paul Young, who wanted to create an online business that put aspiring homeowners directly in touch with sellers rather than acting as an online version of a high street estate agent.
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It has now facilitated the sales of £38m worth of homes and claims to save sellers an average of £4,200 in fees and costs compared with a normal agency by offering a flat fee for its services of £299.
The pair have also won the backing of venture capitalist Thomas Teichman, who has invested in the start-up through The Garage, a tech incubator he founded last year with Sir John Hegarty, one of the co-founders of advertising giant BBH.
Teichman, a former investment banker who made his fortune by backing digital start-ups including lastminute.com and notonthehighstreet, said: “Online agents launched with big fanfares and many have referred to their high street peers as dinosaurs of the property world."
"Really though, online agents are effectively replicating bricks and mortar business models, they just happen to be doing it with a website and a lower price tag.”
He said he used Settled to sell his own home, which prompted him to invest in the business. The company is now launching a second funding round to invest in marketing the business and improving its platform.