CapitalRise reaps benefits of Boris bounce
CapitalRise has reported an influx in enquiries and deal flow after the ‘Boris bounce’.
Uma Rajah (pictured), its co-founder and chief executive, told Peer2Peer Finance News that the prime property investment platform has seen an influx of interest since the General Election result.
“We’ve definitely seen the impact of the ‘Boris bounce’,” Rajah said.
“I guess lots of people, particularly in prime central London, have been sitting on their hands waiting for certainty because of Brexit and the General Election.
“Once we got that result, which meant there was now a government in place with enough control to put Brexit through and the risk of a Corbyn government was removed, that gave enough confidence for people to transact.
“We’re still the only platform and lender 100 per cent focused on institutional prime real estate, so we’re doing lots of lending in prime London and we’ve got loans in the prime commuter belt locations too.
“Part of that market has suffered, like other parts of the market, from a lack of finance as traditional lenders reduce the amount they lend in general and in particular in the prime markets.
“That’s left a huge vacuum which alternative lenders like ourselves attempt to fill.”
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In November, CapitalRise announced its plans to double its loanbook after securing £1m of equity funding from Revolt Ventures.
The platform’s loan size is between £1m and £20m and Rajah revealed that the firm will be focussing on funding larger loans in the next couple of years but emphasised the business will only grow in a controlled way.
“We raised £3.3m in equity last year which has given us a fantastic base to grow our team and ramp up,” she said.
“It’s a really exciting time for the business and we’re excited for this year too, I think the market dynamics of where we are in the property cycle is positive.”
Since launching in 2016, CapitalRise has returned over £27m to investors with an average return of 9.4 per cent per annum.
Last year, the platform received over £3.3bn in loan applications and almost tripled its lending compared to the year before.
“The business is doing great and we’ve been scaling very fast,” Rajah said.
“It was a really good year for us. There’s huge demand for what we’re doing.”
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