DEALS | StepLadder, Disperse, Blueground, PeerStreet

StepLadder, a London-based startup which helps first-time buyers raise a deposit, has received funding of £1.5m. Backers included BBVA and Anthemis Venture Creation Partnership.

Customers put money into a ‘circle’, or joint account, with other customers, and each month one is chosen at random to receive money until everyone has a full deposit.

Another London-based startup, Disperse, which provides AI-powered construction insight, has raised $15m at Series A with Northzone leading the round.

Disperse uses visual data from construction sites to create action plans and analysis for developers and their teams.

The company plans to use the capital to fuel its US expansion and accelerate research and technological development for specific customers.

Blueground CEO and co-founder Alex Chatzieleftheriou

Lettings platform Blueground has closed its $60m Series B round jointly led by Prime Ventures and WestCap Investment Partners.

The New York-based firm offers customers the chance to rent technologically equipped apartments in cities across the world. The firm said it will move into the London market by the end of this year. This is part of Blueground’s expansion plan to grow into 50 cities by 2023. It is currently active in nine cities, six of which are in the US, two in Europe – Athens and Istanbul – and Dubai in the Middle East.

Infraspeak, a Porto-based property maintenance system, has completed its €3m seed round with investment from Indico Capital Partners.

The automated and customisable platform helps maintain management processes for cleaning and inspections of buildings. The company raised €1.6m last year from First Minute Capital, Innovation Nest and Construtech Ventures.

The company has offices in Portugal, UK, Spain, and Brazil, and plans to use the funds to expand into new markets.

Los Angeles-based PeerStreet is an online investment club where investors can purchase real estate debt with attractive loan-to-value rates.

The maximum LTV is 75%, aiming to reduce the risk of loans, and 6% to 9% yields are advertised on an example 12-month loan.

The platform has passed $3bn in loan volume in six years.

PeerStreet has closed a $60m Series C round led by Colchis Capital and a group of institutional investors.  Existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, World Innovation Lab and Thomvest Ventures also took part.