Munich Startup: As we last spokeYou said that you see great potential for Heimkapital and your product – both here and beyond the German market. Were you able to achieve this goal?
Julia Schabert, Home Capital: Yes, we are well on our way to achieving this goal. Since going live, we have been able to multiply the number of real estate transactions year after year, and thus also increase revenues accordingly. We also continue to see great potential. Partial real estate sales are still a niche product compared to the overall real estate transaction market. However, we are seeing ever-increasing demand. This means that partial real estate sales are becoming increasingly well-known within the target group. To name a few figures: over our platform We receive 1,500 to 2,000 new customer inquiries per month. Our growth efforts are currently focused on Germany. But of course, it makes sense to look at the entire DACH and European markets. The demographic problem of an aging society and increasing interest in alternative, more flexible financing options for property owners is not just a German problem.
Niche product with stronger demand
Munich Startup: What obstacles did you encounter along the way?
Julia Schabert: We've indeed faced a number of challenges in such a short period of time. It started with the fact that we entered the market right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced us to adopt a purely telephone sales model without any personal contact. This posed a real challenge for a new financial product, such as the partial sale of one's own home. However, we were able to successfully overcome this challenge. Of course, there are always challenges to be solved on the financing side as well. Currently, for example, the interest rate turnaround requires us to respond to them with creative solutions.
Munich Startup: How has your solution evolved?
Julia Schabert: In our opinion, we have already launched a very well-developed product. This is also demonstrated by the consistently positive customer feedback, which currently sets the standard in the industry. But we are of course also constantly working on making the product even more customer-friendly. This means, for example, that we have invested heavily in the quality of advice and entered into groundbreaking partnerships, for example with brokers. A major focus for us is the expansion of the tech platform. We have invested the most resources in this in recent months. This primarily includes topics such as how we can optimize our acquisition strategy in a data-driven manner – with a particular focus on the energy efficiency of existing properties – or how we can further automate our processes, and much more.
Home capital: “There is always a way”
Munich Startup: And how are things looking financially for you?
Julia Schabert: We are satisfied with our capital base. We were able to raise a large Debt financing round of 300 million euros This gives us the necessary credit facilities to purchase the real estate shares. We then completed the debt financing round in autumn 2022 with a Series A capital increase rounded off. We have since used the fresh capital from new and existing investors to expand our marketing, team, technology, and product.
Munich Startup: What learnings have you as a founding team learned so far?
Julia Schabert: We've had to overcome a number of challenges since going live, primarily macroeconomic ones. What we've learned from this is that there's always a solution. Even if it sometimes means taking a step back in order to move forward even faster later, every crisis also creates space for new opportunities. Another lesson is that it's a huge advantage to have a diverse but complementary founding team. The strategic and operational results are simply much better - provided everything is solely for the purpose. The third lesson is perhaps that we have a product that is permanently complex and requires explanation. It is precisely this educational aspect that is a huge incentive: With our product, we are helping to improve financial education among our target group, as there is now another financing option on the market.
Munich acts like a magnet for talent
Munich Startup: What role has the Munich ecosystem played in your journey so far?
Julia Schabert: The Munich ecosystem plays a very important role. On the one hand, we have two excellent, world-renowned universities and a very active startup scene with lots of great talent, especially in the (deep) tech sector. On the other hand, the city of Munich and the surrounding region act as a magnet for talented individuals from elsewhere. However, since we're not the only tech startup, the competition is much fiercer than perhaps elsewhere. In addition, Munich has a large investor base, and venture and growth capital are available. We feel a strong connection to the local startup scene!
Munich Startup: What milestones are you working towards next?
Julia Schabert: Our next goal is to further optimize our purchasing strategy and our home services. We also want to make our product even more customer-friendly and specifically address our customers' needs. This may also mean revising our product range. We also want to Financing page to position ourselves even more broadly in order to be able to purchase the properties we believe in, even as demand continues to grow.
