Bricklet trading platform backed by heavy hitters on road to $50m in sales

Property exchange Bricklet is drawing prospective home buyers and investors keen for an exposure to the rising market.

Bricklet chief executive Darren young

Fragmented property platform Bricklet, the world’s only property exchange providing a market for tradeable fragments of real estate, has won the backing of News Corporation, REA Group and property investment firm Ironfish in a fresh capital raise as it heads towards trading $50m worth of property.

The tech company’s original investors — Lakeba, Mirvac, Stockland and Mihubb — are also backing the company that is positioned as disrupting traditional property models by carving up and then selling portions of larger properties.

The latest funding round closed at almost $3m and will help the mainly residential property platform expand, including into affordable housing, with commercial property also on the agenda.

Bricklet chief executive Darren Younger said that over the past 18 months, the company had been refining the platform to align with how Australians want to buy, sell and own property.

“This has included making bricklets accessible to all Australians, launching a buy now, pay later option and partnering with developers to bring high-quality property on to the platform,” he said.

With Bricklet’s commercial viability proven he said the company was now promoting it as a way to invest, own and sell investment property. “Our latest funding round will let us do just that, with our new investors bringing on board the means to engage with the property investment community,” he said.

The system has been compared by proponents to share trading, where small investors buy fragments of companies, with the bricklets representing a portion of the property. The booming residential property market has seen a pick-up in interest from prospective home buyers and investors.

“We’re seeing a lot of demand from first-home buyers trying to enter the property market and it’s also a great opportunity for self-managed superannuation funds,” Mr Younger said.

Since it sold its first bricklet last February, the company has sold more than $15m worth of bricklets, which it says allows more Australians to access property investing.

New capital will go towards promoting the system to property advisers, real estate agencies and other property groups. “We have an ambitious goal of at least $50m of property this year,” Mr Younger said.

Under the system, developers create Initial Bricklet Offerings through bricklet.com.au, which investors can buy once qualified on a special exchange. The bricklets, which are the fragments of property, are held in a blockchain for perpetuity, and can be traded.

Investors can build a diversified portfolio by buying bricklets across different locations and more developers are providing stock for the system. The bricklets cost about $25,000 to $35,000.

The property companies planned to use the platform as a sales channel for housing in their developments. Stockland says it presents an opportunity to explore fractional home ownership.

Lakeba group chief executive Giuseppe Porcelli said closing the Series A funding round meant it could accelerate into its next growth phase with its aim to become the “de facto platform to buy, sell and own investment property in fragments”.