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StepLadder

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StepLadder is a fast growing and award-winning fintech dedicated to helping people buy their first home.

132%
 - 
Funded 21 Apr 2021
£125,000 target
£166,420 from 302 investors
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Business overview

Location London, United Kingdom
Social media
Website joinstepladder.com/
Sectors Finance & Payments Digital Mixed B2B/B2C
Company number 10052693
Incorporation date 8 Mar 2016
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Investment summary

Type Convertible
Discount 20%
Tax relief

EIS

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Business highlights

  • 90% of Members get their deposit faster than saving alone
  • Huge market - 350,000+ UK first-time buyers annually
  • 40%+ quarterly growth | ~£900,000 in member funds | 75+ Circles
  • Multi-award winning | 5-star reviews | Backed by BBVA Anthemis
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Key features

  • Secondary Market
  • Seedrs nominee min. £10.00 +
  • Pay by Bank payments not accepted

Learn more about convertible campaigns.

Idea

Introduction

StepLadder is a game changing and award winning fintech company committed to solving a huge societal and generational problem - buying your first home.

We are tackling the housing crisis head-on with our innovative and powerful “StepLadder Circles” to help first-time buyers raise their property deposits and supporting them through a process which is usually lonely, stressful and opaque.

How it works...

StepLadder Circles are based on a Rotating Savings and Credit Association model (ROSCA), which Co-Founder Matt studied in Brazil for his graduate thesis in 2006. Informally used by many communities around the world, the ROSCA harnesses the power of community to help people reach their savings goals faster and keeps them disciplined to stay on track.

The opportunity to change lives goes way beyond home buying in the UK as the Circles can be used for other expenses e.g. cars, electronics, healthcare. StepLadder’s digital ROSCA can meaningfully disrupt personal finance.

Substantial accomplishments to date

2017 - 2018

• FCA registered as a P2P platform (appointed representative status)
• Launched initial Circles in beta
• Seedcamp leads Pre-Seed round with existing friends & family investors
• First property deposits awarded and first Member bought home

2019

• UK national launch & growth begins following successful beta
• Anthemis BBVA lead £1.5 million Seed round

2020

• Proprietary platform 2.0 live, with integrated underwriting
• An average of 365 applications per month

2021

• 25x membership since 2019 - 40%+ growth per quarter
• An arrears rate of less than 0.20% across 75+ Circles
• Total defaults have been less than £1,000 over two years of growth
• Over £750,000 awarded to Members

Overall

• Hundreds of Members being supported on the journey to home ownership.
• We are making home ownership more inclusive.

c. £900,000 Member subscriptions on the platform

Consistent 5-star Trustpilot rating

Featured in 10+ national newspapers and magazines

Multiple awards for social impact and innovation

Monetisation strategy

We generate revenue in the following ways:

• Membership Fees: we charge a recurring fee to cover the cost of service

• Mortgage Origination: our mortgage advisor partners pay us a fee for each Member who uses them

• Referral Fees: we introduce our Members to solicitors, surveyors and other service providers who pay us a referral fee

• Licensing Fees: as we develop global partnerships in this next phase of our growth, we aim to generate revenue from partners who want to white label our platform

Use of proceeds

Funds raised from this campaign will support growth in the UK and beyond and help us scale from helping 100s to 1000s of Members.

• 40% of this raise for UK growth through our referral and ambassador programs and exploring new marketing channels

• 30% of this raise for international expansion through licensing partnerships

• 30% of this raise for staff and technology to support growth

Join committed investors...

Our Seedrs campaign invites new investors to join the Founders, leading angels and top-tier UK VC funds such as Anthemis and Seedcamp for the first time:

• With nearly £3,000,000 in funding to date, StepLadder has created a digital finance proposition with disruptive potential worldwide

• Our leading angels are seasoned professional investors and have invested in each capital raise since 2016

• The Founders have personally invested over £250,000 - including this round

Key Information

Existing Convertible

The company has the following outstanding convertible loans, which may convert to equity after this round and dilute existing shareholders:

£426,000 loan from Future Fund and Existing Investors, with the following key terms:

Interest rate: 8% Non-Compounding
Conversion trigger(s): An equity raise of at least the value of the convertible loan.
Conversion price: 20% discount on the share price of the qualifying round.
Valuation Cap: None
Share class: Most senior class of shares issued in the round.
Repayment date: December 2023

Advance Subscription Agreement (This Seedrs Round)

This investment round is being raised by way of a convertible equity investment structure, in this case an "advanced subscription agreement".

The key terms that apply to the Company’s advanced subscription agreement are set out below. See also attached Key Terms document for further details.

• Discount – conversion at a 20% discount to the valuation set by a Trigger Event.
• Valuation cap share price of £64 - indicating a pre-money valuation of £10,620,000 based on the Company's current fully diluted pre-money share capital.
• Conversion is triggered by ("Trigger Events"):
- An Equity Fundraise – defined as the Company raising investment capital of at least £500,000 from one transaction or a series of transactions, in exchange for the company issuing ordinary shares;
- A Change of Control of the company (transfer of more than 50% of the share capital); or
- An IPO – being a listing of the company’s shares on a recognised stock market or secondary market.
• Longstop Date is 30 November 2021.
If conversion has not been triggered by the Longstop Date shares will be issued on the longstop date at the Default Share Price, which is the lower of:
- the lowest price of any shares issued after the date of this Agreement; and
- a price per share based on a pre-money share price of £40 - indicating a pre-money valuation of £6,650,000, based on the Company's current fully diluted pre-money share capital.
The convertible would also convert to equity at the Default Share Price in the event of winding up or liquidation of the company.

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To comply with financial regulations, we can only show full campaign details to registered users.

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Please read the Risk Warnings before investing. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future.

This webpage has been approved as a financial promotion by Seedrs Limited ("Seedrs"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It is not intended to be a promotion of any individual investment opportunity and is not an offer to the public. The summary information provided about investment opportunities on this webpage is intended solely to demonstrate the types of investments available on the Seedrs platform, and any investment decision should be made on the basis of the full campaign. Full campaigns are available to investors who have become authorised to invest on the Seedrs platform. All investment activities take place within the United Kingdom, and any person resident outside the United Kingdom should ensure that they are not subject to any local regulations before investing.

Seedrs does not make investment recommendations to you. No communications from Seedrs, through this website or any other medium, should be construed as an investment recommendation. Further, nothing on this website shall be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. Seedrs does not provide legal, financial or tax advice of any kind. If you have any questions with respect to legal, financial or tax matters relevant to your interactions with Seedrs, you should consult a professional adviser.

Tax Relief (SEIS)

This business is eligible for SEIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 50% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Tax Relief (EIS)

This business is eligible for EIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 30% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Valuation (pre-money)

Valuation rounded from Convertible

This is the fully-diluted pre-money valuation of the business (i.e. before the new investment comes in and including issued options and other equity interests). In contrast, the post-money valuation is based on inclusion of the new investment in the value.

It is calculated as the pre-money valuation plus the amount of new investment. e.g. If Company A is ascribed a pre-money valuation of £1,200,000 by prospective investors investing £300,000, its post-money valuation is £1,500,000.

Pitch type

There are 5 types of investment pitch available on Seedrs.

  • Equity
  • Convertible
  • Fund
  • Cohort
  • Secondary

Investing in a convertible campaign allows you to invest today, with your investment converting into equity in the future, at a discount compared to other investors.

Learn more about pitch type on Seedrs

Equity Offered

The equity offered is the percentage of the company’s shares being issued in return for the amount of investment raised.

When the amount raised is less than 100%, the equity offered is based on the target raise. Once the company has raised over 100% it is based on the total raised.

In some scenarios, entrepreneurs may accept additional direct investment after closing their Seedrs campaign. Provided this is within 6 months of the closing and on the same terms, we do not typically offer pre-emption rights on that extra investment (where you have the opportunity to invest again to maintain your percentage shareholding).

Learn more about investing and pre-emption rights.

Seedrs nominee

This shows if you are able to choose, when making an investment, that you be represented by, and your shareholding be managed by, the Seedrs nominee.

Find out more

Custodian

If you invest in this Campaign, Seedrs will act as Custodian rather than provide our standard nominee service. This is due to the fact that the business is not directly involved in the share sale and Seedrs will not benefit from any rights under a shareholder agreement. As a result, Seedrs will handle administrative tasks as we do normally, but you will not have information or voting rights, updates from the business, preemption on future fundraising, or ongoing support about business trading activity.

Learn more about Custodian here

Secondary market

This shows if the business has opted-in or opted-out of allowing its shares to be bought and sold on the secondary market.

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Direct investment

This is an option to invest and hold shares 'directly' in the company (rather than via the Seedrs Nominee). This option is only available to those investing over the threshold amount, which is determined by the fundraising company.

If you choose to hold your shares directly, you will be responsible for any contractual or administrative arrangements with the company you are investing in.

Find out more

Payment options

We are not able to accept card payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment by creating a bank transfer, using funds in your investment account or create a Pay by Bank payment. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Business Involvement

This Campaign offers shares for sale in business that is not directly involved in this Campaign or the sale. As a result, the Campaign and post-investment experience, including investor rights, will differ from a business-led campaign on Seedrs. Most notably, the business will not engage with investors in the discussion forums both during and after the sale or provide any updates to investors.

Learn more here

Payment options

We are not able to accept Pay by Bank payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment with a card payment, by creating a bank transfer or by using funds in your investment account. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Drawdowns

This campaign offers the ability to pay for an investment by drawdowns.

Warning

You are following a link outside of www.seedrs.com.

None of the information in constitutes part of the campaign and it has not been approved or reviewed by Seedrs.

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