Citi joins a number of institutional backers investing in LendInvest’s secured property loans.

LendInvest now manages over £500m of lending capital on behalf of its institutional investors.

Under the terms of the financing, Citi will provide a warehouse funding line to LendInvest which will be used to finance specialist buy-to-let loans designed for professional, experienced landlords and investors. 

LendInvest’s buy-to-let product will initially be piloted with a select group of mortgage brokers, with the loans being rolled out to the wider market over the coming months.

The buy-to-let loans will be available on terms up to 30 years, taking the business into the longer-duration specialist lending market. 

The lender believed that entering the buy-to-let market was the next step for LendInvest and would accelerate the company’s volume of lending and create more investment opportunities for its investors.

“This new funding line from Citi shows how our business has evolved from disruptive fintech start-up to established scale-up business as we move towards the mainstream mortgage market,” said Christian Faes, co-founder and CEO at LendInvest (pictured above).

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“Citi’s backing equips us with the firepower to expand into longer-term lending, as we take our superior technology and processes into the professional portfolio landlord market. 

“It also gives us an opportunity to work closely with a team that is world class in the global mortgage market and a well-established player in the securitisation space.”

LendInvest’s buy-to-let product will be supported by an entirely online mortgage application and case management portal.

The technology-driven system is designed to alleviate pain points in the mortgage process for brokers and borrowers.

Chris Philp, parliamentary private secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer, welcomed the investment from Citi into a major UK fintech business.

“This partnership between LendInvest and Citi is a great example of major institutions getting behind UK fintech in a serious way, and confirms London’s status as a leading destination for global fintech investment. 

“LendInvest’s push into buy-to-let is a great example of fintech moving into more hard-to-disrupt markets that could be otherwise left behind by financial innovation.”

LendInvest was advised on the investment by the financial services corporate finance team at EY.