Deals round-up | LendInvest, OpenSpace, Brick & Mortar

Online property finance and investment platform LendInvest has raised £200m in its latest investment round, led by the National Australia Bank.

The UK-based company raised £30.5m in its Series C funding round in September last year. Since LendInvest’s creation in 2008, it has secured £1.8bn of funding from investors such as technology investment firm Atomico, and Asia’s global investment bank Nomura.

Earlier this year, LendInvest raised £200m with HSBC UK to enter the regulated homeowner loan market for the first time.

LendInvest will use this funding to grow its operations in the buy-to-let sector.

OpenSpace CEO Jeevan Kalanithi

OpenSpace, an AI-powered construction technology company, has raised $14m in its Series A funding round led by Lux Capital.

Previous investor Goldcrest Capital reinvested, alongside new participants JLL Spark, Navitas Capital, Suffolk Construction, Tishman Speyer, WeWork and Zigg Capital.

The company is set to use this funding to offer street-view, 360 degree style documentation of a construction site by deploying small cameras onto builders’ hardhats. The images that are collected are transferred to the cloud, where OpenSpace’s algorithms then match the photos to the project plans. This will allow for retrospective looks at sites and allows companies to provide virtual tours.

OpenSpace will also use the funds to continue growing its operations, including in the sales and marketing department, and to develop its computer vision powered products.

Founder and managing director of Brick & Mortar VC Darren Bechtel

Venture capital firm Brick & Mortar, led by Darren Bechtel of construction conglomerate Bechtel, has launched a $97.2m construction tech fund.

The fund was raised from partners including software company Autodesk, building supply firm Cemex, and Google’s sister company Sidewalk Labs.

Darren Bechtel also invested 10% of the fund from his own money. The fund is set to target seed and Series A funding rounds.

Singapore-based property management startup REALly has raised £300,000 in its latest seed funding round, led by strategic advisors Huntington Partners.

REALly is set to use the funding to further develop its app, which is aimed at property managers and helps them to coordinate tasks such as facilities management and renovations. It also features a marketplace for suppliers and contractors with an open bidding process and ratings function.

The app is currently used by real estate companies Colliers and Savills.

CEO of Brickowner Frederick Bristol

Property crowdfunding platform Brickowner has secured £225,000 through its latest equity round on Seedrs.

Brickowner is set to raise more in the upcoming weeks as its Seedrs campaign doesn’t close until September.

The company has gained over £10m of investment since its establishment in 2017.

Brickowner is set to use the funds to hire more senior staff and improve its technology in order to offer more products.