EstateGuru is currently running a fundraising campaign on the Seedrs platform which allows investors to gain equity in the company.
The campaign has been a huge success thus far, hitting the minimum target while it was still in private mode and only available to existing EstateGuru investors. Now it is open to the public and there is still plenty of time to join us on our mission to change the future of property financing across Europe.
To understand what motivates people to invest and what they expect to gain from doing so, we spoke to three investors from different countries to get their stories.
Wolfgang Schmidt
Germany
How long have you been a regular investor on the EstateGuru platform?
About roughly two years.
How did your experience in using EstateGuru for property investments influence your decision to invest in equity on Seedrs?
The EG business model with mortgage-backed loans is an interesting way of investing in the real estate-related asset class. The challenges in this loan business are obvious and EG handles the processes regarding delayed and defaulted loans in quite a good manner. Of course, as a relatively young company, they had to improve their processes and their communication to the loan investors over time. And they did it quite well. So it seems to me that it is reasonable to assume that they might be able to scale this business in Europe or elsewhere in the world. Additionally, their expansion to Finland seems to be in good shape. Since they were also able to start in a difficult market like Germany with an interesting first loan and how they handled issues that arose with this, it all was definitely building more and more trust in their capabilities.
Is this your first time buying equity in a company? If yes, what convinced you to start now?
No, I am a regular business angel and hold public shares too.
How did you find the experience of using Seedrs to invest in EstateGuru?
Using platforms like Seedrs is quite convenient. The ability to communicate not only with the fund-raising company but to discuss with the investor community too was very helpful. It’s the same experience I have with Companisto in Germany. Sure you pay for this with a high carry in case of success but this is worthwhile.
How do you expect your EstateGuru investment to perform?
Hopefully good of course 🙂 They should be able to scale their business all around the world and conquer the special niche they are working in, so this should result in a high multiple on exit.
Any advice for people who are still considering an investment in this fundraising round?
Generally speaking, if you consider investing a considerable amount in equity you should understand the business model. So read all the information like the pitch deck and disclosed numbers and get in touch with EG for all your questions via the Seedrs discussion board for the funding round.
What would you like to see from EstateGuru now that you are a shareholder?
Besides the above-mentioned scaling expectations, I hope for regular information about the ongoing business results like quarterly updates. Additionally, they should leverage the power of the investor crowd, because I assume there might be some knowledgeable market insiders in this group who could help in their business expansion to other countries.
Karl Schleifenbaum
Switzerland
How long have you been a regular investor on the EstateGuru platform?
For 3 years.
How did your experience in using EstateGuru for property investments influence your decision to invest in equity on Seedrs?
The efficient investment platform and the good team and spirit (collaboration on a daily basis) behind it made me consider investing via Seedrs as well.
Is this your first time buying equity in a company? If yes, what convinced you to start now?
Yes, the ease of access and good campaign timing (I just had an amount left for investments) made me use Seedrs.
How did you find the experience of using Seedrs to invest in EstateGuru?
Easy and flawless.
How do you expect your EstateGuru investment to perform?
I want to support the team and sell the investment in a couple of years with at least 7% p.a. profit.
Any advice for people who are still considering an investment in this fundraising round?
No
What would you like to see from EstateGuru now that you are a shareholder?
They know best what to do. I just want to support them with my capital, because I think their business model is the way to go in the future.
Tõnu Toompark
Estonia
How long have you been a regular investor on the EstateGuru platform?
I have been an investor on EstateGuru for 5 years – since 2015.
How did your experience in using EstateGuru for property investments influence your decision to invest in equity on Seedrs?
It was one part of the mosaic puzzle I would say – it seems like the business model is working and, thanks to that, it was only logical to make an investment into the company’s equity. Previous experience with EstateGuru was an important factor in deciding whether to invest in equity or not.
Is this your first time buying equity in a company? If yes, what convinced you to start now?
No, it was not my first time buying equity shares of a company. Furthermore, I have been an investor in the stock market for over 10 years, maybe even over 20 years. However, the sums were modest when I started 20 years ago.
How did you find the experience of using Seedrs to invest in EstateGuru?
Because I already had an account on Seedrs for the last 3 years, investing was convenient for me. I do not remember whether opening an account was simple or complicated. I am sure that with time, it has gotten more difficult to open an account because of AML questionnaires and so on. For me, it was easy and convenient.
How do you expect your EstateGuru investment to perform?
I should ask this from you! I want the investment’s return to be higher than with investing in real estate backed loans on the platform.
Any advice for people who are still considering an investment in this fundraising round?
It would be very sensible to go through the questions-answers section under the Seedrs EstateGuru campaign. Furthermore, it would be wise to open an EstateGuru investor account and get to know the platform, even if you do not want to make any investments. I would give those 2 pieces of advice.
What would you like to see from EstateGuru now that you are a shareholder?
You should put more resources into user-experience and making sure that the website is as comfortable to use for an investor as is possible. Of course, keep up with your increased communication lately, it is a very important aspect. Make information operational, available and more understandable.
Our Seedrs campaign is set to run until 30 May 2020, unless we hit the maximum investment amount of €2 million before that date. Please visit https://www.seedrs.com/estateguru/ to get full details on the campaign and to register to invest.
Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. This webpage has been approved as a financial promotion by Seedrs Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
