The proptech start-up that puts house selling back in the hands of consumers
Founders: Gemma and Paul Young
Founded: September 2014 (launched October 2015)
Website: www.settled.co.uk
Having both worked in property early on in their careers, brother and sister Gemma and Paul Young had seen the “limitations of the estate agency model first hand”. Observing how digital apps and services had reimagined outdated sectors to put the consumer first, they knew the “dreaded” property industry was due a much needed update along the same lines.
Using their later tech experience – Gemma was one of the first 100 employees at Google and Paul previously launched two tech start-ups – the duo came up with Settled: an online service that cuts out the middleman and allows consumers to take control of their house selling. Users fill in information about their house, Settled lists the home on hundreds of property sites (such as Zoopla, Rightmove and PrimeLocation) and then qualifies and registers potential buyers – taking revenue from its partners instead of the consumer. Every home is promoted for a maximum of 12 months, but the company claims it usually takes an average of 20 days for homeowners to get a confirmed sale.
Although there are other online estate agencies, including our winner from last year Purplebricks.com, Settled’s model differentiates itself by allowing users to “manage every aspect of the sale themselves”, with the platform only stepping in when needed.
Settled will use the next year to double the size of its team, become profitable and continue to develop its technology with the aim of streamlining the entire selling process.
