Company Name: Intro Crowd
Website: introcrowd.com
Sector: Property and Finance
Location: London
Can you introduce your investment platform?
The chronic housing shortage in the UK is far from being resolved. The Government says the UK needs one million new homes by 2020. We believe that crowdfunding can provide a way of meeting the pressures to make more land available for new residential developments - whilst also benefiting individual investors.
Strategic land refers to the location, accessibility and potential of the land. At Intro Crowd we focus on greenfield sites adjacent to existing settlements in areas that have experienced a high growth in population. We believe these are promising sites where the potential for development could lead to a greater return on investment.
How did you come up with the idea to start an online investment platform? Was there an “ah-ha” moment?
Currently strategic land development is carried out by large firms and this is an opportunity for individual investors to have the chance to profit from this type of investing.
What’s different about your platform than others in the space?
There are other property platforms, but this is the first crowd funding platform for strategic land investments. We look for strategic land that has the potential for development. After the land has been funded by members of our platform, we manage the planning permission process. Typically, obtaining planning permission causes the value of land to increase – at this point the land will be sold and the returns distributed to investors.
Are you targeting special group of investors i.e., High net worth individuals/Institutions, Domestic/International?
Investors will self-certify themselves as:
- HNW
- Sophisticated.
- Retail (restricted). Investors will be required to register with our website to establish that they are not investing more than 10 per cent of their net wealth.
What type of investments are available on your platform i.e., Equity/Debt, Dividends/Distributions?
Investors hold shares in an Investment Vehicle which owns the strategic land proportional to the amount they put in. Intro Crowd then handles the planning application process and when the land is sold to a housing developer the net profits go to investors. The entry level for investment is £1,500 and then in further increments of £500.
Do you have any milestones you would like to share with us? Or any other interesting news about your platform?
Intro Crowd has already purchased its first land site to kick start the launch, a strategic land development at Cam, near Dursley in Gloucestershire.
How do you see the industry evolving within the next 24 months?
We see large potential for strategic land because of the urgent need for new housing, and Intro Crowd is already looking at three more sites.
Tell us a little about the founders?
Gregory Baker is an entrepreneur who has spent his career building high performance teams in sectors such as technology and financial products. He is a founder and director of Hermex FX, the City foreign exchange firm. Gregory has previously headed business development teams within the real estate sector, which have delivered consistent levels of profitable growth in a very crowded market.
Intro Crowd’s Land Planning Director Christopher Merriman is highly experienced chartered surveyor having completed 40 planning applications resulting in creating 3,000 homes.
