Wayhome has announced that it has closed a series A equity funding round of £8m.

The funding round was led by existing investors Allianz X (Stripe, WeLab, CLARK), Augmentum Fintech (interactive investor, Tide, Zopa) and new funders Volution, Love Ventures and Cur8 Capital.

Wayhome revealed that the funds raised will provide a cash runway to break-even point as it continues to disrupt the conventional home buying space with its gradual homeownership model. The firm operates a “part-buy, part-rent model” that allows people to buy a home worth up to 10 times their household income, with just a 5% deposit and no mortgage or borrowing required.

As part of its new strategy, Wayhome also revealed that it will use the new funds to forge further partnerships with mortgage brokers and lenders in the coming months as an important part of its expansion.

Wayhome currently has an annual rate of £100m deployed in customer property purchases and said it intends that the raise will assist the leadership team in doubling this to £200m per year within the next 12 months.

“We are delighted to continue to be in partnership with such eminent investors as Allianz X and Augmentum and to be working with game-changing new investors too,” said Wayhome CEO, Nigel Purves.

“Due to the way that the gradual homeownership model works, the rising interest rates seen since September’s controversial mini-Budget have delivered even greater demand for our product. With the recent ending of the Help to Buy scheme there are now hundreds of thousands of would-be homeowners seeking alternative ways to access the property ladder.

“This significant raise will fuel our ambitions to double the pace at which we can help new homeowners within 12 months.

“Homebuying has been somewhat traditional for centuries. Our alternative is the best of all worlds as a part buy, part rent proposition that allows our customer to buy their ideal home, in their ideal location, today without waiting for years.”

CEO of Augmentum Fintech, Tim Levene, added: “As an early supporter of Wayhome, Augmentum has long believed in the huge potential of gradual homeownership in the UK market. The traction achieved by the team since launching in September 2021 has validated the technology platform and business model, as well as the scale of the opportunity ahead. With the closing of this round Wayhome enters its next phase of growth, remaining on track to become a category-defining company in European fintech.”

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