Fronted launches ‘Lifetime Deposit’ lending product with the help of fresh £20m funding

Just six months after raising its last equity funding round, Fronted is back with a bang today, closing a £20m debt and equity round to help it expand to a whole new section of the rental market.

Fasanara Capital is leading the funding, and Fronted CEO Jamie Campbell told AltFi that the majority of the raise is debt with only around £1m as equity.

With the new cash, Fonted is introducing a new ‘Lifetime Deposit’ product aimed at existing renters who need to provide a new deposit to move before they’ve received their last deposit.

“On average, this is a 35-day overlap, and when deposits, on average, are around £1,300, you’re looking at more than £2000 worth of cash flow issues for tenants,” Fronted CEO Jamie Campbell told AltFi.

Fronted’s Lifetime Deposit solution is a 10-week bridge financing product with a £40 one-off deposit that sees renters able to ‘unlock’ their existing deposit and use it towards their next property, with Fronted receiving this deposit at a later date once it’s released.

The new product is aimed at “the largest cohort of people in the rental market, who are moving from one property to the next,” according to Campbell.

Ironically, at the end of 2019, Boris Johnson introduced a ‘lifetime deposit’ plan for renters similar to what Fronted has built in the Queen’s Speech. However, this was never introduced.

The Lifetime Deposit will sit alongside Fronted’s existing Deposit product, which acts more like a traditional loan to be repaid over 12 months and is primarily aimed at new renters.

Campbell said that with the additional debt raised and speed that capital will be turned around with this 10-week product instead of 12 months, Fronted will be able to open up lending to a far greater number of borrowers.

Although with demand rising and the UK’s competitive property market pushing rental prices ever higher, Campbell is clear that this is funding round is just the beginning.

“Once we close this deal, we will definitely need to raise again because the scale of the business will be pretty huge.”