Propio has been developed by Shahil Kotecha, CEO and principal at Pivot, Mani Khiroya and Parul Scampion of Fruition Properties, and Tom Buttress, managing director at Propio. 

It is being used by Pivot and Fruition to raise funds, and it is now ready for other developers and lenders to use to raise both equity and debt. 

The platform offers investors a range of debt and equity opportunities all linked to development, with a £1,000 minimum entry point.

The company’s founders hope to attract everyone from high-net-worth individuals to pensioners and millennials.

Users are able to log into the platform and allocate money either to specific projects or to a selection of pooled bonds which invest in multiple opportunities. 

The website contains in-depth information about the opportunities, complete with independent valuation information and an explanation of the project’s timeline.

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Investors get their cash back when loans are repaid or developments are sold, with the duration depending on the type of project and whether investors have taken a debt or equity stake. 

Propio focuses on developments that have already received planning permission, meaning that delays are less likely and returns are more predictable.

Taking an equity stake in a project could potentially return up to 15-20% per year, while debt investments typically return around 8%. 

“Our ambition is to democratise property investment, demystifying the development process so that retail investors of all backgrounds can access the sorts of returns previously only available to the financial elite,” said Parul, co-founder at Propio (pictured above).

“Of course, development is more risky than keeping cash under the bed, but with returns [of] up to 20%, there is potential to tap into far greater returns than many other platforms offer.”

Parul added that its fintech platform opened up new avenues of funding for developers keen to share equity with others or whose schemes may not be big enough to excite the major banks.

“With the bombshell of tax hikes buy-to-let investors now face, we’re hoping to offer far better returns with a greater level of transparency on the fees charged,” Parul continued.

“We are also planning on launching an Isa product in the autumn which makes it even more tax efficient as there would be no tax to pay whatsoever on any returns. 

“Best of all, the earnings can be recycled and reinvested.”