Australian FinTech OwnHome Unlocks $31M in Funding for Portfolio, Platform Growth

Australian FinTech startup OwnHome, which has a goal of “turning renters into property owners,” has raised $31 million in a Series A funding round, according to a report Friday (Feb. 4).

The money will go towards the customer platform and growing the company portfolio.

OwnHome looks at first-home buyers who are currently renting and can afford regular monthly payments. It allows approved buyers to move into a home without a deposit. They instead pay an upfront fee and then monthly payments will build their deposit.

After three to seven years, they’ll have the option to buy the home at a pre-agreed price, with the accrued deposit going toward that.

According to James Bowe, co-founder, the model could work for around 10% of first-home buyers or about 14,000 customers per year.

He said there’s often a nine-month period the first-home buyer takes to complete a purchase, which his company can help cut down.

“The reality is, the deck is very much stacked against first-home buyers, who are going through the process for the first time, battling a market that is working against them. OwnHome brings negotiating clout to help the buyers who need it most.”

According to Bowe, more applications have likely been made because of the housing affordability crisis.

Bowe said the company has expanded to two Australian states in the past year, and also added more partners.

In other homeowner-related news, Zillow has rolled out a partnership with Down Payment Resource to help home shoppers, particularly first-timers.

See also: Zillow Launches Service to Help First-Time Buyers With Down Payments

The platform said that, as of December, home listings will come with information on down payment assistance programs.

Grace Chung , Zillow’s director of social impact, said the company wants everyone “to have access to resources that can help overcome common barriers to homeownership, like the difficulty of saving for a down payment, which is especially challenging within underrepresented communities.”