Initiative Ireland (www.initiativeireland.ie), a social impact finance firm specialising in the provision of lower-cost alternative finance loans to experienced developers, has announced that it has secured a €1.5 million investment.
The investment will support the strategic growth of Initiative Ireland over the next three years. As part of its expansion strategy the company has also announced the establishment of Initiative Financial Services UK Ltd, the firm’s new UK subsidiary. The subsidiary will enable UK investment firms to deploy funds into the Irish property development market.
Initiative Ireland, headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, was co-founded in 2015 by Padraig W Rushe, Padraig M Rushe, and Rory McEntee, and is supported by Enterprise Ireland as a high-potential startup.
Padraig W Rushe, CEO, Initiative Ireland said: “Our offering already enables clients to co-fund secured property loans, leveraging our local lending expertise.
'Significant interest from the UK'
"In addition to the strong demand we’ve experienced within the Irish market we have had significant interest from the UK, where investors are keen to deploy their funds into euro denominated, institutional grade, Irish property backed loans.
“Through our new UK subsidiary and the investment secured, we are now in a position to promote our offering in the UK to meet that demand.”
The announcements follow on from the recent launch of the Initiative Financial Senior Credit Property Sub-Fund I (the fund), a sub-fund of the Davy Platform ICAV.
As an appointed representative of Thornbridge Investment Management LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Initiative Financial Services UK will promote both the company’s fund offering as well as its peer-to-peer corporate lending accounts across the UK market.
Targeting institutional and corporate investors within the UK, the firm will provide UK companies with the ability to invest directly into Irish property backed loans, supporting the construction of new social, affordable and min-market housing across Ireland.