- UK startup Acre Software bagged $8 million in funding from bank investors and partners.
- Leading the funding round are Starling Bank investor Harold McPike and Standard Bank partner Founders Factory.
- Some bank investors may be looking to other alternative investment streams like crypto.
Acre Software, a UK startup that uses blockchain technology to streamline advisers’ mortgage and insurance application process, has secured £6.5 million ($8 million) in funding from investors who partner with banking institutions.
According to an article by Finextra, the funding round was led by Harold McPike, an Austrian investor who owns a 36% stake at Starling Bank. Alongside McPike, significant investors Aviva and Founders Factory also participated. Founders Factory is a partner of Standard Bank — Africa’s biggest lender in terms of assets.
Acre aims to offer a faster and more efficient journey for consumers by using blockchain to create an immutable “record of the transaction” for all components of the mortgage advice process.
With the new funding, Acre plans to expand its partnerships with lenders and insurers to help brokers recommend and apply for their customers’ most competitive financial products and services.
The firm has experienced rapid growth since its last fundraising round in 2019, achieving 10x growth in 2022 to cover 1300 users and £10 billion in annual mortgage volume.
The collapse of various banks during the first quarter of this year may have prompted other investors to look for other alternative investment streams, including startups such as Acre. However, the most significant winners of the 2023 banking woes are leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP.
