British Property Technology Firm Hammock Notches £1M

To assist landlords in understanding the financial health of their properties, Hammock has notched £1 million in seed funding from Ascension Ventures and Fuel Ventures. The British property technology company also plans to roll out an FCA-regulated current account in the weeks to come, according to an announcement from the firm.

Hammock said it would continue to grow the breadth of lending and money offerings as the company expands and onboard more properties.

“For landlords the time spent trying to manage the monies for more than one property — from rent collection to bookkeeping — can cause headaches. I know this first hand being a landlord myself,” Founder and CEO Manoj Varsani said in a press release. “We wanted to alleviate this by developing new tech that automates the mundane duties of managing property portfolios and provides instant insight into how well each house or flat is performing.”

As it stands, Hammock connects with the bank accounts of landlords through open banking. It keeps tabs on payments, rent collections and expenditures without intervention, while offering in-the-moment analytical reporting on how well each rental apartment or house is faring.

Hammock has been created in the Founders Factory Studio and has been developed with the needs of landlords in mind.

In separate news, Zibo has notched $10.5 million in a Canaan Partners-led seed round. Zibo aims to offer accessible and simplified financial offerings for landlords. Other round participants include Khosla Ventures, SVB Capital and QED Investors.

The firm has launched its own payments and banking initiative to transition landlords away from old platforms harnessing spreadsheets and more manual technologies.

Chris Hsu, the CEO and co-founder of Zibo, said per past reports that he entered the business so he could provide financial resources for his family. As he continued, he started to see a lack of technological help for landlords.