- Includes investment and strategic partnership agreement with LSL Property Services plc
- Remains positionedas a leading UKFCA-regulated mortgage robo-adviser
MortgageGym, the FCA-regulated mortgage robo-adviser, has announced the successful completion of a funding round of £3.8m from investors, including LSL Property Services plc (LSL), which is the parent company of the UK’s second largest mortgage network.
Leading fintech pioneer GoCompare Group plc (GoCompare) has also increased its shareholding as part of this investment round. Following the LSL investment MortgageGym is valued at £12m despite only having fully launched its proposition earlier this year and the funding will enable ongoing investment in the company’s development of mortgage robo-advice and artificial intelligence services. The investment roundincluded the obtaining of FCA approval.
The funding round follows a seed funding round of £2.5m, which was completed in 2017, and almost a year of integration with GoCompare’s services.
In addition, MortgageGym has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with LSL mortgage broker networks – which, at the end of 2017, had some 2,298 mortgageadvisers and arranged £21bn in lending in 2017.
MortgageGymis a regulated mortgage robo-adviser, offering a free 60-second mortgage-matcher and mortgage advice, which is enhanced through its full integration with Experian credit files, and mortgage lenders’ live scorecards.[1]
MortgageGym’s instant mortgage-matching perfectly positions it to answer a recent call by the FCA to further support mortgage applicants: the regulator announced in May that it wants consumers to be able to identify and easily compare the mortgages they are qualified to reasonably win. [2]
The investment sees the promotion of Jeremy Moll to the company’s Managing Director from Chief Commercial Officer. Jeremy has over 28 years of experience in the UK mortgage and insurance industries. He was part of the senior team that created CompareTheMarket.com and latterly BeagleStreet.com.
John Ingram, co-founder of MortgageGym, said:
“Our funding round, strategic partnerships and continuing unique proposition put us in a strong position to truly revolutionise the UK mortgage market. Other digital mortgage platforms are constrained by their aim to organically grow their customer-base and build broker support at the same time, while our compelling fusion of ‘bricks and clicks’ will allow us to rapidly alleviate homebuyers of the uncertainty and stress of mortgage applications on a national scale.
“We have carefully chosen investors that not only bring funds, but invaluable, symbiotic business models and expertise. As a result, we do not need to invest in costly customer acquisition or building a broker-base. This places us in a much stronger position than our peers as it allows us to invest the new capital in improving our technology – thereby improving customers’ choices. We are thrilled that the business will benefit from the new investment and we are delighted that Jeremy has been promoted to the company’s Managing Director during this exciting time. The UK mortgage market is poised for digital revolution, and we are here to drive it”.
MortgageGym has further expanded its board to include:
- Jeremy Moll, Managing Director: Jeremy has over 28 years of experience in the UK mortgage and insurance industries. He was founding director of CompareTheMarket and part of the team that created the Russian meerkat character Aleksandr Orlov and his sidekick Sergei, establishing the business as one the leading price comparison sites in the UK. Jeremy later became Commercial Director of Beagle Street, the first new life insurance brand in the UK for decades.
- John Ingram, Co-Founder:John is an accomplished financial services entrepreneur with proven successes taking businesses from the start-up stage through to high-value exit. Prior to founding MortgageGym in 2016, John was founder of Burlington Group, an award-winning collections business that applied data intelligence to identify the right method to yield results on a debt portfolio. Burlington Group was acquired by a private equity funded buyer in 2015.
- David Vertannes, Co-Founder:David has over 25 years of experience in real estate and start-ups. He was Director and Shareholder at estate agency, Vickery & Company, for 14 years before leaving to co-found Orchard Property Group, a real estate agency that disrupted the traditional high street by marketing online with a customer-centric model. The business was acquired by trade sale to a competitor.
- Jon Round, Investor Director:Group Financial Services Director of LSL Property Services plc, a leading provider of residential property services incorporating both estate agency and surveying businesses, which generated £21 billion of mortgages in 2017. Jon brings significant experience and expertise of operating financial services and mortgage advisory businesses atsubstantial
- Faisal Galaria, Investor Director:Currently Chief Strategy and Investment Officer of GoCompare, Faisal is a successful entrepreneur who has been behind some of the world’s most loved global consumer technology companies having held senior positions at Spotify, Skype, Kayak and Jaman from founder through hyper-growth to massive scale.
- Gaby Salem, Investor Director: Gaby is Principal and Managing Director of Wharton Asset Management, a London-based private investment office specialising in fintech, proptech, hitech, biotech and life sciences. Amongst his various active investments and directorships, Gaby currently sits on the board ofco.uk which is pioneering online estate agency through a successful technology-based user journey.
The strategic partnerships agreements with GoCompare and LSL build on MortgageGym’s existing commercial arrangements with the UK’s leading conveyancer, MyHomeMove. Essential partner services are seamlessly integrated into the MortgageGym user journey, supporting consumers in all aspects of their home-move.
The FCA-authorised service allows homebuyers to complete their mortgage application online in 15 minutes through a free, hybrid advice website offering mortgage eligibility matching within 60 seconds, regulated robo-advice and access to live advisors.
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