Landlord borrowing alternative Futurerent, which lends property investors up to $100,000 of their rental income in advance, has secured $50 million in debt funding and is launching a new US division of the brand called Downpayments.
The venture debt was provided by US VC Second Century Ventures and California-based lender Partners for Growth (PFG), which has backed Australian startups since 2007, including bedding brand Koala, business lender Prospa and HR platform Employment Hero.
Futurerent founder and CEO, Godfrey Dinh, said Downpayments is tailored to the US market to help Americans purchase real estate, by financing the down payment, as well as offering buyers agency services.
“Access to the deposit is the biggest barrier to creating wealth through property, and peoples’ personal financial lives are inseparable from their property goals,” said Dinh.
“We started Downpayments to empower investors on their journey to financial independence. Building on our learnings in Australia with an abundance of data and our proprietary technology, we’re now able to help Americans with one of the biggest purchases of their lives.
“We are particularly excited to begin serving property investors in Florida, where there is a tremendous level of real estate activity that we believe could grow with easier access to capital. It’s an exciting new chapter for Futurerent.”
The Sydney fintech launched in 2019 and since then has advanced more than $25 million to property investors, primarily for deposits on a new property purchase.
Second Century Ventures managing partner Dave Garland said Dinh and his team demonstrated “a best-in-class approach” to innovating for the real estate financing industry.
“With Downpayments, they’re tackling one of the thorniest issues surrounding real estate transactions and have found a way to turn hopeful buyers into actual buyers by unlocking easier, faster access to a deposit,” he said.
“We are thrilled to partner with the team as they begin to scale in Florida and throughout the US.”
Max Penel, co-head of fintech at Partners for Growth said they started working with Futurerent in late 2022.
“We are excited to continue partnering with Godfrey and his team as they expand into the US, leveraging the technology and approach to risk they have developed in Australia,” he said .
“This US expansion provides an opportunity to unlock equity as the national average loan to value ratio in the US has fallen.”
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