Proptech Generation Home Raises £1B in Debt Funding

Alternative loans

The debt financing was provided by Waterfall Asset Management and will be used to lend to more first-time buyers.

Image source: Will Rice and Sophia Guy-White/Generation Home.

A mortgage lender disrupter set up by a husband and wife team has raised £1billion in debt funding.

Proptech Generation Home, whose backers include VC billionaire Peter Thiel and Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield, was established in 2019 by Will Rice and his wife Sophia Guy-White.

Waterfall Asset Management provided the debt financing, which will be partially funded by Barclays.

The funds will be used to lend to more first-time buyers, according to a statement given to Bloomberg.

“Capital accumulation is the greatest challenge facing young people, who struggle to access the homeownership ladder while saving for their own retirement,” Rice said in the statement.

“The additional funding provided by Waterfall is a vote of confidence in an innovation-starved industry and will directly help thousands more aspiring homeowners realize their dreams.”

Generation Home offers Income Booster and Deposit Booster mortgages, helping first-time buyers finance their dream moves.

The Income Booster mortgage allows a third party, often relatives, to be listed on the mortgage, helping the first home buyer borrow more money.

The Deposit Booster Mortgage allows a friend or family member to provide first-time buyers with an interest-free loan to help fund the deposit in exchange for an equity interest in the property.

The lender already lends tens of millions of pounds each month to first-time buyers.

The new mortgage lender model was born out of the couple’s frustrations when buying a home.

The latest funding round follows a $30.4m Series A funding round last year, which followed the company securing a £300m credit facility from Nat West.