Today, the real estate DLT startup Coadjute announced a funding round of £10 million ($12.6 million), led by Lloyds Bank with a contribution of £3 million. Other major investors include Natwest, Nationwide and the UK’s largest property website, RightMove (market capitalization: £4.35 billion). These banks are three of the top five UK retail banks, and Coadjute stated they are the three largest UK mortgage lenders. This investment boosts Coadjute’s total raised funds to £23 million ($29 million).
Coadjute’s platform, based on DLT, enables seamless communication and data sharing among all parties involved in a house sale. Property sales often face delays. RightMove estimates that it takes 5.5 months on average from offer acceptance to sale completion. The process involves multiple parties, including buyers, sellers, their agents, lawyers, mortgage brokers and banks. Any one of these can delay the process.
By facilitating transparent document sharing and communication, Coadjute’s solution quickly identifies and addresses any bottlenecks in the process.
A recent survey by Lloyds Bank revealed that 30% of prospective home buyers do not understand the buying process. Another 51% only somewhat understand it. A solution like Coadjute can significantly enhance both transparency and comprehension.
“We believe Coadjute’s innovative technology has the potential to revolutionise the property buying process for all, and dramatically improve the speed and simplicity of purchasing a home,” said Robin Scher, Head of Fintech Investment at Lloyds Banking Group.
Coadjute’s strategy
Rather than directly targeting estate agents or buyers, Coadjute opts to integrate with the existing property software platforms used by estate agents.
The new funds will support a national rollout and expand functionality to include mortgage brokers and lenders.
Involvement in high-profile initiatives like Project Meridian has been a hallmark of Coadjute’s strategy to smooth out the property transaction process. Project participants include the HM Land Registry, the Bank of England, and the BIS Innovation Hub.
Coadjute utilizes R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain. Recently, R3 investor SBI from Japan announced a project with Sumitomo Real Estate to explore using DLT to track Japanese real estate transactions.
