The Lendi Success Story
Bailador Case Study : Lendi
This month we take an in-depth look at a Bailador success story – Australian Home loan provider, Lendi.
One of Bailador’s newer investments, Lendi was started with the simple idea of building an online application process for home loans, and pairing it with expert advice, to provide Australian home buyers with a rapidly improved home loan experience. Since its founding in 2013, Lendi has addressed an underserved area of the market and, as innovation continued, it used this new technology to disrupt the traditional home loan process. This was indicative of an exciting opportunity for mass-market scalability and caught the eye of Bailador, with its investment in Lendi finalised in late 2016.
Earlier in 2016, during its first meeting with the Lendi team, Bailador saw a business that was set on fundamentally improving the tedious and cumbersome process of a home loan application that was currently a dated, physical paper-based procedure in a progressively digital world. Australians owed an astounding $1.56 trillion in mortgage debt with the average mortgage holder owing $353,000 making this a huge market to take advantage of with the new Lendi platform.
Bailador Investment Director, James Johnstone, outlines why Lendi had so much potential: “It is no secret that the big banks have long enjoyed a dominant position in the home loan market and have consequently been very slow to innovate. Lendi has seized this opportunity to offer Australian consumers a fundamentally improved home loan service and in doing so has built a really exciting business with huge potential.”
Since 2016 Bailador has provided Lendi with capital through two separate rounds of funding and offered ongoing strategic counsel. Bailador provides recruitment assistance, networking from its well-established portfolio, assists in solving business problems, and offers strategic business and financial guidance as part of its involvement with the Lendi board.
David Hyman, CEO of Lendi said: “Both James and Andrea, have provided their valuable insights from their involvement with a number of other high-growth technology businesses – this has been hugely helpful. They have critically challenged our business and offered us advice on operational strategies from similar tech companies in their growth stage.”
James adds, “It’s an exciting time for Bailador to be involved with Lendi. Lendi has largely flown under the radar for a business that has already settled over $4 billion in home loans. The team have spent considerable time refining their target market, product and business model which has translated into its impressive growth track record which we believe will continue”.
David Hyman, CEO of Lendi, describes why Bailador was the right fit for home loan provider: “Bailador are a powerful but nimble player in an emerging venture capital market in Australia. The team are unique in their ability to be both agile in their approach and offer valuable experience from their position in many other growth stage tech companies. There is a huge value in this for us.”
In the middle of its growth phase and powered by a second round of funding, Lendi is well underway in growing its brand awareness and building strategic partnerships to continue its rapid market growth.
Recently a joint venture with Domain.com.au has been announced, offering a new product - the Domain Loan Finder, powered through Lendi. Describing the partnership, David Hyman said: “Domain is a multimillion dollar part of the Fairfax Group and 85% of Australians who purchase houses use the Domain platform at some stage in that journey. We now have the opportunity to tie in with the huge presence that Domain has built and the audience that they’ve gained, and plug that success into Lendi’s personal home loan offering.”
Just one of many examples in the Bailador portfolio, Lendi has proven itself as a bright investment that captures the convergence of technology and financial services. The Lendi business continues to rapidly expand and Bailador is excited to partner with a business that has the potential to take a meaningful slice of the $1.56 trillion Australian home loan market.