EstateGuru, an online marketplace for loans secured by property, has quickly topped its minimum crowdfunding hurdle on Seedrs. EstateGuru set a minimum raise of €350,000 but as of today, the Fintech has raised over €483,000 from 548 individual investors.
EstateGuru is hoping to raise €2 million at a pre-money valuation of €28.8 million. In the past, EstateGuru has received the support of European venture capital fund Speedinvest. The securities offering is expected to end on May 30, 2020. EstateGuru has posted a registration guide for interested investors.
Based in Estonia, EstateGuru is a European marketplace that has originated over €200 million in property backed loans for SMEs. The company reports over 46,000 investors from around the world. The company reports zero loss for investors to date.
Currently, EstateGuru operates in 7 different European markets but clearly the Fintech wants to expand its services into other markets.
EstateGuru aims to execute what they describe as an “ambitious road map to become the biggest real estate financing platform in Europe by 2025.”
EstateGuru security offerings are based on “solid collateral, using first-rank mortgages.” The company says this model is especially useful for entrepreneurs who struggle with the ‘one-size-fits-all’ policies of banks.
Historic rates of return have been around 11.8% – a pretty impressive number in the historically low-interest-rate environment.
EstateGuru states that 41% of new investors come from referrals and 90% of the investors are repeat participants.
In March, EstateGuru wrote a blog post about the ability of the platform to withstand the current economic turmoil:
“Our stress tests show that our investors’ outstanding loan portfolios have a sufficient buffer to overcome these hectic times,” stated the platform.
The company also reports growing interest from institutional investors.
Marek Pärtel, co-founder and CEO of EstateGuru, said in a statement they truly believe that alternative financing and the business model of EstateGuru is designed for the next wave of economic success.
“Entrepreneurs and investors need new solutions on how to grow their business and income. Back in 2008, when the idea of the EstateGuru was born, we were also going through turbulent times, much as we are now. That’s why EstateGuru was created in the first place – to have the business model for different business environments.”
Tom F. Lesche, Principal at Speedinvest believes EstateGuru will be a major beneficiary of the current market situation and real estate will always be a safe haven in troubling times:
“So we see this as a massive market opportunity. And the team at EstateGuru is optimally positioned to seize it by having a deep understanding of real estate and digitising the loan process. For all of those reasons we’re backing the team on their mission to become the #1 real estate investment platform in Europe.”
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