Grundy to hit fundraising trail for My Online Estate Agent
INVESTOR David Grundy, the former regional managing partner of Grant Thornton, is set to launch a £1m fundraising drive for the online estate agency business he acquired earlier this year.
Mr Grundy, who relocated My Online Estate Agent from High Wycombe to Ribchester, Lancashire after the deal in June, said he plans to sound out a number of parties including London-based venture capital trusts, organisations like the North West Fund and Enterprise Ventures and regional players such as Seneca, which has access to a network of high net worth investors.
He says the funding will be used to strengthen the company’s senior team in sales, marketing and technology and also to advertise the venture, which has “huge potential” as he believes the way homes are sold is set to change over the next five years.
“I’d like to complete a deal early in the new year – I’m looking for £500,000 up to £1m to really have a go at growing it. I am reallly excited by My Online Eastate Agent. I think the online market is going to absolutely explode and we want to be ahead of the curve.
“I believe home sales will be disrupted by technology in the same way that the travel sector has been. Not long ago, there were travel agents on every high street but, with few execptions like Kuoni, now they have been all but wiped out by online alternatives. I think the same will happen with estate agents.”
While it has no physical presence, the business interfaces with rather than competes with the major online property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla.
Users select which service they want via menu of fixed-price services on the site and then My Online Estate Agent will send a surveyor to value the property, which will be advertised through a number of channels. The big difference is that vendors will conduct their own viewings.
Mr Grundy says: “Most house hunters begin by looking online nowadays so the high street branches are no longer an essential part of the process. We can show that by eliminating the conventional estate agent, we can carry out the process in exactly the same way, but much more efficiently, so saving the seller a lot of money.”
He accepts My Online Estate Agent is a “speculative” investment, but adds: “If you buy into the belief that the (online home sales) market, which is around 5% now but is forecast to grow to 50% in the next three years, then it looks like an interesting opportunity.”
