1. LendInvest

Founders: Christian Faes and Ian Thomas
Founded: May 2013
Website: www.lendinvest.com

Clinching the coveted number one spot in the Startups 100 2016 index is three year-old innovative peer-to-peer property lender LendInvest. Claiming to be the UK’s “first and largest” online marketplace for property, LendInvest matches investors looking for prime retail opportunities with property entrepreneurs looking for short-term mortgage finance.

Founded by qualified solicitor Christian Faes and chartered surveyor Ian Thomas after they’d become frustrated with the slow process of mortgage applications, the duo decided to adopt the principles of consumer and small business P2P lending. Now, three years on, LendInvest says it can process an application – which can take three months from a high street lender – in as little as two weeks, with its fastest completed in three days.

This speed has seen the service win favour with property entrepreneurs buying at auction as well as landlords and property developers on the borrowing side – with LendInvest charging a fee to borrowers.

Last summer, the company secured a staggering £22m funding round from Chinese technology firm Beijing Kunlun – one of the biggest UK investments of 2015.

The start-up now intends to embark on a period of major expansion to meet its customers “insatiable demand”.

With a staggering £15m turnover for 2015 and plans to increase headcount from 90 to an impressive 150 by the end of 2016, this pioneering London lender is a worthy number one.

Our second proptech business to clinch the coveted top spot (after Purplebricks.com came first last year), it’s clearly the hot sector of the moment…