Habito, the UK’s digital mortgage broker, has raised € 6.4 million in Series A funding. The London-based startup has now raised a total of € 9.5 million. Habito provides a fast and transparent way to get people the best mortgage possible.
Since its launch in April 2016, Habito has helped more than 20,000 people better understand their mortgage and has completed € 58 million in mortgage applications.
Daniel Hegarty, the founder and CEO of Habito stated: “The response we’ve received from customers has proved what we always knew – there’s a huge opportunity to make the experience of getting a mortgage simpler, more transparent and a lot less painful. The industry has suffered from a lack of innovation for decades and the outdated, paper-based manual processes aren’t fit for 21st century homeowners. Our technology empowers people to take control of their personal finances and protect themselves against getting or staying on the wrong mortgage. We’re excited to continue to build our business and deliver new services.”
Habito’s success to date is signalling a shift in how consumers want to engage with financial services. Over 90% of customers prefer using live chat over a phone conversation to complete and submit their mortgage application. In addition, using artificial intelligence Habito has developed chatbot – Digital Mortgage Adviser – which has halved the average amount of time spent on each case. Coupled with this, the team are always on hand to answer questions – with access to over 10,000 mortgage products across a wide-range of lenders, they can find the best possible deal for the customer.
The funding round was led by Silicon Valley-based Ribbit Capital, with participation from existing investor Mosaic Ventures. Over the next 12 months, habito plans to further develop its machine learning capabilities by creating a fully automated end-to-end platform which will enable it to offer new services, such as real-time mortgage approvals and automatic alerts when a better mortgage deal becomes available to registered customers.
Micky Malka, founder and general partner, Ribbit Capital: “Mortgages are the biggest personal debt most people take on in their lifetime, and Habito brings a level of transparency that customers value and expect. I’m confident that Daniel and his team have the right vision to change the mortgage industry for the better. We look forward to supporting them during this period of exponential growth.”