New PropTech firm Dot has closed a $1.5m (£1.13m) Seed round to simplify the property investment process.
The round was led by Stage Dot O, an LA-based venture build fund established by Roofstock.com co-founder Devin Wade.
With Dot, property can be bought online by making a deposit of just 30%. The startup then manages the investment process, from finance to working with John Lewis for furnishing, insurance, management to help find tenants and compliance.
Dot describes the process as “the entire property investment lifecycle condensed into one button”. The cost of the deposit is calculated by Dot – minus the amount of the Dot Instant Mortgage, which comprises the other 70%.
Dot is a young company that was founded earlier this year by CEO Gray Stern, COO Fraser Armstrong-Watters and CCO Lucy Sharp. Stern previously co-founded London-based buy-to-let mortgage lender Landbay.
Stern explained the company’s aim: “Dot has a long-term goal of improving housing through efficiency. The first and most important ingredient in our ecosystem is the mortgage, so we’re excited to have created a financing solution that’s faster and more flexible than anything else in the market.
“When you add in the other services that we’re providing, both directly and through awesome partnerships, we’ve removed all of the friction points from a typical property transaction; the end result we hope for is a better return for investors and homes that tenant’s love.”
Dot also estimates the net cashflow of the property by assessing yield, demand and value. When the deposit is confirmed, the customer becomes its shareholder/owner, and they can control the property from a mobile phone.
Wade commented: “Dot has developed a new funding system and related infrastructure that enables it to deliver a cross-border mortgage instantly at the point-of-sale, something that has never been done at scale before. Coupled with their unique real estate container model, this business has the potential to truly transform the way the global housing market functions.”