VentureCrowd Enters the Property Market

VentureCrowd, an Australian equity crowdfunding platform, has moved into the property market.

This move has been made due to a deal with a local real estate firm called Mirvac. The platform has launched a crowdfunding subsidiary called VentureCrowd Property, which will allow investors to build a property portfolio online with investments starting at just $100.

The platform is currently in trial stage and currently only open to sophisticated investors but ultimately VentureCrowd would want to open this opportunity up to retail investors.

Jeremy Colless, VentureCrowd CEO, commented:

“We expect to see legislative changes in 2015 which will allow crowdfunding investment opportunities to be extended to retail investors, particularly as rising property prices make it more difficult for younger investors to enter the market.”

Currently investors have access to two Mirvac properties in Sydney. And the platform will begin accepting applications from eligible investors next week.

John Carfi, CEO Residential Development, Mirvac Group, explained:

“As part of our mandate to innovate we have agreed to provide two apartments from our popular Sydney projects to the trial, enabling us to better understand the ins and outs of crowdfunding. VentureCrowd already has the expertise and experience in delivering successful crowdfunding platforms.”

VentureCrowd’s model is based around the platform working with 25 partners including early stage business incubators, accelerators and venture capital firms, universities and digital agencies. We recently reported that the platform had partnered with investor group Sydney Angels. Under the partnership Sydney Angels, a group of about 70 high net wealth investors, will refer startups to the platform. The platform also hit headlines this week when it launched Australia’s biggest crowdfunding campaign to date. 

The expansion of VentureCrowd into property comes just a month after Australia’s first real estate crowdfunding platform, CrowdfundUP, launched.

Mr Colless added:

“The VentureCrowd platform has proven to be a compelling alternative capital raising solution for seed and later stage high-growth companies. We are now expanding the platform to encapsulate the much larger property market.”