Best Startup
FutureBricks, a fintech platform, combines two worlds that should have come together a long time ago: property development and investment. Here to tackle the UK’s housing crisis head on, the platform provides a tech solution to back SME housebuilders, the bulk of which who are overlooked by traditional financial institutions as their residential development projects are too small in value. FutureBricks deploys funding to these SME housebuilders while offering property investment opportunities to corporate lenders, HNWI/sophisticated investors. The investments are asset-backed by way of first charge against property.
With a successful 100% payout in capital and interest since FutureBricks started trading in 2018 with a fully fledged automated lending platform available on iOS and Android, the Company has offered 100% successful exits to 18 projects they’ve funded to date on their platform. FutureBricks is here to spread the word about asset-backed property investing. Please remember that when investing, capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Tell us about yourself?
Having grown up surrounded by entrepreneurship, it was an innate compass in wanting to manifest my vision. Straight out of university, after graduating UCL’s Bartlett School, I dived into it: I spotted a gap in the market while working for an SME housebuilder in London. We could find sites, there were projects, but we couldn’t get funding. What we were doing was simply not big enough.
As a tech-driven entrepreneur, I wanted to bring technology to bridge it together the property development industry. And FutureBricks is only the beginning. There are so many pain points along the journey of property development: from site sourcing to figuring out projects’ viability and profit margins, to financing (which FutureBricks is very much focused on) to finding the right skilled workers. We are currently working on a new proptech one-stop platform aimed at solving all these common issues.
My vision in bringing property technology to a new level is what keeps expanding the Company and its ambitions.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Everyone has a different narrative. Listen to good advice. Don’t take anything more personally than needed. The narrative you tell yourself literally shapes your physical reality.
What problem does your business solve?
FutureBricks addresses the lack of financing residential SME property developers are facing.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
My passion for technology and the property development industry are what led to the creation of FutureBricks. Solving the financing issue for SME housebuilders is only the first time. They represent yet such a significant number of new homes being brought to the market to try hitting the target of new homes set by the government.
What is your magic sauce?
FutureBricks, as a tech-driven company first and a property investment business second, is agile, creative and all about empowerment, from empowering the employees that form the business to everyone we meet. Empowerment starts from the self, and it then transforms our approaches and the intent behind every relationship we build. These elements allow us to be flexible and innovative.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
The vision at FutureBricks is to offer seamless transition through every stage of the property development journey.
In 5 years, the Company as a thought leader would have created a community of open sharing industry experts in the property development industry. It is the centre of knowledge, and it is also a voice to advocate for positive impact.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
FutureBricks balances two sides part of the same business: the funding from investors as well as the selection of property developers to deploy these funds to. Investments are made by lenders who make decisions autonomously with a full understanding that whist funds are secured against property, capital is at risk and is not protected by the FSCS.
The balancing of these two elements are based on the foundational blocks of technical understanding when it comes to property development, conducted by the Underwriting team, as well as the due diligence required, conducted by the Compliance team. It is crucial that the offerings of how FutureBricks can support developers are clear, and these are maintained and communicated by the Marketing team with the aim to build long-term trust.
There is a whole list of external parties FutureBricks is in touch with, from legals, to surveyors, and every single piece is part of a whole chain that is perfectly balanced out by the fundraising required.
It is building, evaluating and enhancing the many infrastructures part of the whole that have been very challenging, but once you have a blueprint and you have a mindset where you remain flexible, the question changes to: ‘How can we be better?’
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We want more people to learn about asset-backed property investments in the UK as an asset class. It is important to remember that when investing, capital is at risk and in this case, past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and investments are not protected by the FSCS.
As FutureBricks builds out a larger platform to tackle issues beyond just financing, but having an earlier entry point, we are eager to get VCs onboard. If you feel this is something exciting and you have insights you’d like to share with us, get in touch. We would love to hear your thoughts if you’re a property industry expert. If you feel this is something exciting and you have insights you’d like to share with us, we’d like to chat.
If you’re a developer and you’d like to stay in the ‘in,’ we’re conducting a survey: https://bit.ly/2VxhXgm
Get in touch with us at info@futurebricks.com and mention ‘BestStartup.’
