Least, the platform delivering a faster digital leasing experience, has announced that it has closed a £1.5 million seed funding round led by Love Ventures, and backed by Concrete Ventures, along with a group of angel investors with significant reach and experience in the real estate, legal and financial sectors.
Least was founded by former leasing agent, Leon Ballard and Mishcon de Reya partner, Nick Kirby, to simplify the leasing process, creating efficiencies for building owners and a new user experience for occupiers. It was spun out of MDR Lab, Mishcon de Reya's venture investment and venture building arm, and Mishcon de Reya is a shareholder in the proptech start-up, which has raised three rounds of funding.
The product slashes the traditional timeline associated with the negotiation and closing process, reducing void costs, losing fewer deals, and generating revenue for both building owner and agent much sooner. Least has seen exceptional traction with some of London’s most innovative landlords including GPE, Shaftesbury PLC, Brunswick Property Partners and Grosvenor.
The investment enables Least to satisfy immediate demand and to continue the deployment of the product across assets of any sector, size, or complexity. It also fuels the growth of the team, welcoming new CTO, David Cummin.
With Love Ventures and Concrete Ventures, two of the principal names in proptech VC, along with sustained interest and new investment from leading figures across the real estate industry, Least has the support to accelerate the rapid growth of the business across the UK and into Europe.
Leon Ballard, Co-Founder of Least, comments: “Having developed a unique market-leading solution for the commercial property leasing process, we felt that the size of the opportunity to expand into new sectors and geographies warranted an influx of capital. In Love Ventures, Concrete Ventures and multiple industry-leading angels, we have got passionate, smart and supportive partners who we are thrilled to welcome aboard for the next phase of our journey.”
Adrian Love, General Partner at Love Ventures, comments: “Our investment in Least is based on a mutual understanding that the real estate industry has considerable scope for innovation and in particular, time and cost efficiencies created by the use of digital platforms. Love Ventures is excited about Least, what they are offering to clients and the potential for adoption across multiple sectors and geographies, and we look forward to continuing to provide support in the future.”
Taylor Wescoatt, General Partner at Concrete Ventures, comments: “At Concrete Ventures our ambition is to seek out the proptech companies providing innovation to leading global real estate partners in areas that are ripe for disruption. It is clear that Least is providing a digital solution in a space where for too long the time-consuming nature of the traditional process only served to increase costs and frustration. We are looking forward to supporting Least in further rolling out and developing the product to fit building owners across the real estate industry.”
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