BrickVest, the London-based online real estate investment platform, today announced the final close of its second fundraising round with €7.9 million, representing one of the largest Series A funding rounds in the property tech (‘proptech’) sector. The lead investor is Berlin Hyp, the real estate finance provider to Germany’s largest banking group, the Savings Banks Finance Group. Berlin Hyp has acquired a minority stake in BrickVest, and the two firms have formed a strategic partnership.
The unique partnership with Europe’s third largest real estate lender will enable BrickVest to grow its investor base, execute its ambitious business growth plan and rapidly expand the company’s deal catalogue.
Berlin Hyp’s partnership with BrickVest provides it with access to an online, AIFM regulated real estate investment platform and an investor base that has grown to more than 3,500 HNWs and family office assets worth around €11 billion. As a result, Berlin Hyp will be able to advise its clients on a greater number of European real estate deals and to boost its offering across the equity, mezzanine and senior debt space.
BrickVest was founded by the end of 2014 and is has offices in London and Berlin. The company’s latest round of fundraising was significantly oversubscribed, following the company’s seed funding round of in April 2016, and the £2 million first close in March 2017. Berlin Hyp may seek to extend their stake in BrickVest at a later date.
Emmanuel Lumineau, CEO at BrickVest, commented: “Our unique partnership with Berlin Hyp is transformative for BrickVest and we have a tremendous opportunity to expand our investor base of institutional sponsors and family offices. Both sponsors and investors continue to back our approach to democratise access to institutional real estate investments, in a highly secured and low-cost environment. This additional funding will enable us to continue investing in our in-house technology and scaling our innovative platform in line with soaring levels of demand for accessible real estate investment.”
Sascha Klaus, Chairman of the Board of Management of Berlin Hyp AG, explains: “For us as a bank, this partnership is a way to further implement our digitisation strategy, expand our value chain and tap into further growth potential. Our decision was preceded by a thorough review of BrickVest’s business model. The technology, products and the skills and experience of the management team convinced us to agree the partnership.”
