New proptech Offr scoops £2.7m seed round led by Barclays

The newest proptech on the block Offr has snagged a £2.7m seed funding round, led by Barclays.

Other existing investors participated in the seed round including Delta Partners on behalf of the Bank of Ireland, AIB, Enterprise Ireland, The European Investment Fund and Frontline Ventures. 

Offr enables users to buy, sell, lease, or rent property from anywhere in the world through its platform, which digitises over 85 per cent of the process. 

Just after the UK entered lockdown, on 24 March 2020 Offr claims to have enabled the world’s first fully remote digital property transaction, with the property sold entirely online for 61 per cent over the asking price. 

Robert Hoban, co-founder and CEO of Offr, said: “We built Offr with a clear and simple goal, to change the way property is bought and sold; to make it faster, more transparent and more enjoyable for real estate agents, buyers and everyone else involved in the process.” 

“The fact is, the stress, uncertainty and longevity of buying and selling property are just products of an outdated, yet somehow accepted system.” 

Offr’s latest funding round takes the total amount raised by the fledgeling fintech to over £3.6m, with the latest cash being used to support the fintech’s global expansion. 

Ryan Hayward, head of strategic investments for Europe and Asia at Barclays, added: “As an alumnus of the Barclays Accelerator programme, we are very pleased to be supporting Offr through this exciting period of growth.” 

“Offr has the potential to completely transform the property transaction process globally. We look forward to working with the Offr team to help them scale their business internationally and realise their considerable future ambitions.” 

The fintech’s latest raise and minority equity stake sale took place entirely remotely, with all investor pitches given over Zoom and all 30 investors signing documents digitally.  

Offr is currently available in Ireland, the UK and Australia.