Experience is everything
Uma Rajah, chief executive of CapitalRise, explains why expertise is non-negotiable when it comes to property finance…
EVERY marketplace lender has its own unique selling point – the one thing that distinguishes them from the competition. At CapitalRise, the key differential is experience.
“From its inception in 2016, CapitalRise has focused on utilising its founders’ and team’s years of experience to make intelligent and informed decisions,” says Uma Rajah, chief executive of prime property lender CapitalRise. “Especially when it comes to underwriting investments.”
Rajah describes CapitalRise as “property plus fintech”, which is reflective of the founding team. Rajah herself brings a wealth of fintech experience, having spent decades developing and launching online and mobile consumer-facing lending platforms, which has given her a competitive advantage in the world of peer-to-peer lending.
Co-founders Alex Michelin and Andrew Dunn bring the prime property and finance expertise. Both have also co-founded the luxury property development firm Finchatton and have two decades of prime property developing and investing experience. Over the last 17 years, Finchatton has delivered over 120 projects in prime central London and worldwide with a value in excess of £1.2bn.
The other members of the CapitalRise team bring a wealth of experience in banking, technology, marketing and property, which has helped to solidify the reputation of the firm in the increasingly crowded property lending marketplace.
This emphasis on expertise has clearly worked. CapitalRise has seen no losses to date, and despite the Brexit-related uncertainty which currently surrounds the London property market,
CapitalRise is still being inundated with demand from investors.
In fact, Rajah says that most of the platform’s investors arrive via word of mouth, through existing investors and familiarity with the team’s reputation.
Since 2016, CapitalRise has lent approximately £15m and currently has a pipeline of more than £20m over the coming months. Having returned more than £3.5m to its investors, delivering a return of 10 per cent per annum, it’s no wonder that the last investment – a sales period loan of £1.5m, launched by CapitalRise in October –was raised in under 48 hours!
CapitalRise believes the level of detailed information shared with investors, following their rigorous due diligence, is above industry standard and enables investors to make informed investment decisions.
By valuing experience and professionalism above all else, CapitalRise has been able to grow its business despite an uncertain economic climate and are proving its ability to build a strong reputation among both investors and borrowers.
Click here for more information on CapitalRise.