74. Nested

Founders: Matt Robinson, Phil Cowans, James Turford
Founded: December 2015 (launched September 2016)
Website: nested.com/

A founding team with a strong track record is typically a good indicator for repeat business success and so you can be confident that Nested is in safe hands with a CEO (Matt Robinson) who co-founded GoCardless, and a CTO (Phil Cowans) who was also CTO of Songkick.

Combining start-up experience with COO James Turford’s private equity background, the trio have built Nested – an online estate agency which guarantees users a sales price from day one.

The only business of its kind to make this offer, Nested promises customers that, if they don’t sell their home in 90 days, it will give them the guaranteed amount thus “eliminating the uncertainty of selling a home”.

You’re likely to be reading this thinking “How can an estate agency make such a promise?” Well, Nested charges 3% fees on the amount it guarantees the property for and then anything the property sells for over this amount is split 70/30 in the property owner’s favour.

The idea for Nested originated when Robinson was buying his own home and realised it was near impossible to buy a home in a chain-free position. With a third of chains in the UK falling through, Robinson considered the idea of making a sale guarantee and this set Nested in motion.

Supported by just under £10m in external investment, Nested and its team of 12 staff is now helping five property owners a month – and that’s only since launching last September. The business helped its very first customer, Richard, sell his property in just 67 days – almost a month less than the house sale average.

While Robinson admits “being a very cash-intensive” start-up business comes with its challenges, the future looks bright for Nested and it intends to up its customer numbers over the coming year.