Rental fintech Futurerent raises $9M to expand nationally

Rental income fintech Futurerent has raised $9 million and will use the funds to expand its national presence, launch new products and build further integrations.

Futurerent gives property investors up to $100,000 of rent in advance, within two business days. Using the platform, property investors are applying for a total of over $2 million in advanced rent each month, to help finance deposits on additional properties, renovations and general cash-out purposes.

In the last financial year, Futurerent said it has grown its book size 10 times and increased the total rent advanced to property investors by 11 times.

The round was led by OIF Ventures, with other investors including BridgeLane, Mulpha International, iPartners, MFO Investments and Second Century Ventures.

Futurerent was founded in 2019 by former Deutsche Bank Australia Vice President, Godfrey Dinh.

Futurerent founder and CEO Godfrey Dinh said, “Since we began, Futurerent has incurred zero losses and has zero non-performing transactions. This is because we’re helping financially responsible property investors grow their wealth, by doing more with their rental income.

“We’re empowering property investors with a simpler way to cash out and access the money they need to grow their wealth.”

Dinh said a significant portion of their clients have the savings to meet their needs but prefer to maintain their savings.

"They also want to avoid the complexities of dealing with the banks. The banks are good at helping owner occupiers with their home loans, but Futurerent provides a much better experience for property investors," he explained. 

Jerry Stesel, co-founder and partner of OIF Ventures, said, “Futurerent has identified that simple and affordable access to capital is the biggest barrier preventing property investors from creating wealth, and they have developed a groundbreaking solution.

“By giving property investors the option to use a streamlined digital process to unlock their rent, Futurerent has created a new financing category. We believe that the company’s momentum will continue to grow, and that Godfrey’s vision for reimagining how property investors create wealth will take Futurerent to significant heights.”

Markus Kahlbetzer, CEO and Founder of BridgeLane said Futurerent provides a fundamental opportunity for property investors to access additional funding while debt markets are tightening.

He said, "Landlords can increase their funding capacity and work with our banking sector to increase their participation in Australia’s largest asset class.

“We believe that Godfrey and his team’s ability to execute on this novel funding model will also accelerate the ability for rentvesters to achieve their objective of getting into their desired home sooner.”