Mortgage Master Raises Seed Funding Round of SG$522,500 to Drive Expansion, Vows to Fix �Broken� Mortgage Market

• Funding round was oversubscribed and closed within
  eight days
• Strategic capital will reinforce Mortgage Master’s
  vision of ensuring homeowners in Southeast Asia can conveniently find the best
  mortgages tailored to their needs

SINGAPORE -�Media OutReach - 4 February
2020 – Mortgage Master, Asia’s one-stop mortgage
brokering platform, announced today that it has raised SG$522,500 in an
oversubscribed seed funding round, exceeding its initial target of SG$400,000.
Strategic investors include Bala Swaminathan, former President of Westpac
International and Founder of S Cube Capital, and Andy Lim, Chairman of Tembusu
Partners.

 

The investment by strategic investors, through FundedHere, the Monetary Authority of
Singapore’s first licensed equity crowdfunding platform, reflects their belief
in Mortgage Master’s growth opportunity in a market worth SG$50 billion per
year, and the Singapore-based start-up’s unique ability to eliminate
inefficiencies in the mortgage process, while benefiting both homeowners and
banks.

 

David Baey, Co-Founder and Chief Executive
Officer, Mortgage Master, said: “We are honoured to welcome our new investors,
who we are excited to work with to advance our business and vision. Since our
founding in 2018, Mortgage Master has become the trusted platform for 2,500
customers, having transacted more than SG$500 million in home loans. The
capital will be used to build deep technology capabilities to scale the
platform, increase headcount, and enter new markets.”

 

While Singapore’s home ownership rate — of 91
percent^[1]
— is expected to rise and owning a home is one of local millennials top
aspirations^[2],
Singaporeans also indicated wariness when it comes to buying a house, with
affordability a key concern^[3].
In addition, research in developed markets reveal that nearly two-thirds of
millennial homeowners have regrets after their purchase, in part due to
excessive mortgage payments^[4].

 

Mortgage Master
addresses this by giving unbiased advice and the best mortgage rates tailored
to each homeowner’s needs. The company’s engineering-led training,
customer-centric sales management, partnerships with all banks in Singapore,
and referral program to maximise a customer’s ‘Return on Relationship’, has
boosted the revenue performance of its brokers to three times the industry
average. Mortgage Master is on track to help homeowners save SG$100 million and
increase partner banks’ profits per year.

 

“A homeowner typically
conducts 10 hours of research, assesses 15 banks — with each touting the ‘best’
offering, and then spends two hours on paperwork, but often still ends up with buyer’s
remorse. A home is the most meaningful purchase you will make in your lifetime,
and we believe the process of financing it with a mortgage must be better.
Having observed this broken system first-hand, we started Mortgage Master to
empower banks to behave the way they should — in homeowners’ best interests,”
said Baey.

 

Daniel Lin,
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, FundedHere, said: “This successful
funding round reinforces the growing prevalence of angel investors wanting to
take a direct and more strategic involvement in start-ups. Congratulations to
Mortgage Master for closing a very successful campaign and we look forward to
helping more high-potential businesses secure funding with the right
investors.”

Quotes from Investors:

 

“Mortgage Master is effectively looking to overhaul
the way homeowners in Asia make the most expensive purchase of their lives, by
being the neutral party that offers personalised advice, alongside a faster and
more affordable mortgage process. Having been a banking professional for many
decades, I am proud to support the company and I see many specific ways we can
work together to transform the market,” said Bala Swaminathan, seasoned
start-up investor and lead investor in Mortgage Master’s seed funding round.

 

“Mortgage Master has reengineered the mortgage
process to not just benefit consumers, but financial institutions as well. This
differentiated model, a team with deep industry know-how, and impressive
first-year revenue momentum is a sign of even better things to come. I am
thrilled to come on board as Mortgage Master continues its journey toward
becoming the preferred platform for all Singaporeans buying or refinancing a
home,” said Andy Lim, Chairman, Tembusu Partners.

About Mortgage Master:

Mortgage Master is Asia’s one-stop
mortgage brokering platform for homeowners to find the best mortgage rates
tailored to their needs. Founded in 2018 by former bankers who finally decided
it was time to stop selling only one bank’s home loan product at a time, Mortgage
Master is a neutral platform that partners with all banks and empowers them to
behave the way they should — in homeowners’ best interests. 

 

Driven by a team with extensive
leadership, technology and sales expertise in corporate finance, personal finance,
mortgage-related industries and FinTech innovation, Mortgage Master has transacted more than SG$500
million and delivered unbiased advice for SG$2 billion in home loans, serving more than 2,500 individual cases annually in Singapore.

For more information, please visit: https://www.mortgagemaster.com.sg.