Brickfy, a marketplace specializing in investment in corporate loans and mortgage-backed loans, has developed a system that allows investors to allocate certain economic provisions in various crowdlending platforms from a single website and, at the same time, manage their portfolio in a centralized “but diversified” manner, Brickfy founders explain.
The real estate market is one of the branches that is at the center of the target due to the negative effects caused by the bleak crisis of Covid-19. On the one hand, investment in new as well as second-hand housing has been reduced in recent months. On the other hand, investors who rely on the crowdlending market have reduced their activity considerably. In this context, Brickfy, a marketplace specializing in investment in corporate loans and mortgage-backed loans, has developed a system that allows investors to allocate certain economic provisions in various crowdlending platforms from a single website and, at the same time, manage their portfolio in a centralized “but diversified” manner, Brickfy said in statements to The Referrer.
“Our mission is to help our users make their savings profitable by diversifying their portfolio in a convenient, secure and profitable way. With returns of between 8% and 15%,” say the founders of the company, Juancho Arregui and Fernando Palma.
The firm, started in Estonia, was launched to the public in 2019, after receiving the corresponding license as a Financial Institution by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit. After this launch, and with the user feedback on the platform’s operation, Brickfy transformed its service in order to improve the software, as its main objective. In addition, the founders explain, “we already launched a beta version in April this year and will soon launch a new version with significant improvements in the architecture of the platform, in a process of continuous improvement.
The Brickfy project focuses, above all, on the alliance of both proptech and fintech services. At the same time, this has been extended with more investment options such as different types of loans to companies. In the long term, the company will also develop new options for self-investment, the secondary market, and the improvement of the risk rating of loans, since these are the three main elements its users demand.
The company is also considering increasing the number of partner platforms and the number of projects they offer their users for investment. And therefore, “continue to grow and increase our user base and the volume of funds managed,” say Juancho Arregui and Fernando Palma. Other objectives the founders emphasize are “applying for additional licenses as credit intermediaries and as fund managers, in order to be able to offer our investors greater security and, above all, more options to be able to diversify their portfolio”.
DOUBLE WINNERS
Brickfy was recently a finalist in the Santander X Challange awards. For the founders, this is “a tremendous honor as we were selected from over 2,500 startups that applied for the award”. As well as this award, Brickfy has also been selected to participate in the FinTech Online program by Startup Wise Guys, the best accelerator in the Baltic.
The platform has a free usage model for users, since it is the lending platforms and loan issuers who pay a commission on the investment made by users. “With the impact of the coronavirus we have seen how many of the originators focused on consumer loans have suspended payments or have been late in paying their fees.
They offer a high return in short periods, but they are somewhat risky loans. That is why we want to focus on loans to companies and especially loans with real estate guarantees,” the two founders add.
Brickfy also has a portfolio of investors that exceeds 25 countries around the world and has platforms in Estonia, Spain, Italy, the Philippines, and Russia. Initially, the company started with €2,500 for the incorporation of the company, later, it carried out a capital increase of €50,000 to continue with the development and growth of the company.