46. habito

Founder: Daniel Hegarty
Founded: January 2015 (Launched April 2016)
Website: www.habito.com

The continued rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) has opened the doors for innovation across a whole range of industries – and proptech is no different.

With the likes of Property Partner, Settled and Purplebricks all gracing our Startups 100 profile pages in recent years, 2017 bears witness to habito’s first appearance in the list.

Targeted at helping Brits find a mortgage that’s best for them, habito believes the mortgage application process should be entirely automated – from sourcing to AIPs, all the way to completion.

Using a chatbot called the “Digital Mortgage Adviser”, the start-ups’ AI tech analyses all aspects of a user’s financial life (employment, attitude to risk, and personal life plans) and is then able to assess what type of mortgage would be the right fit for them.

Asking users only relevant questions, the algorithm also uses real-time market rates to calculate a likely monthly payment amount, based on a user’s circumstances and preferences.

Available 24/7 and free to users – it takes a payment from lenders for each mortgage processed – the app seeks to provide an alternative to what Hegarty refers to as a “drawn-out and anxious mortgage approval process”.

Operating in a £95bn industry, it’s hardly surprising that habito has grown 30% month-on-month since launch, completing over £70m worth of applications to date.

Applying the latest in tech to a previously undisturbed industry, and having assisted more than 25,000 people in their search for a mortgage, you can expect to hear a lot more about habito over the next 12 months.