Heavyweight investor consortium acquires stake in land acquisition platform

Business eyes European expansion

From left: Verafind's Freddy Hoare, Dan Robinson and Charlie Youngs

What‍

A consortium of investors has acquired a stake in land acquisition platform Verafind

Why‍

The business was founded in 2022 by Ringley Group, which is selling a stake to pave way for further investment

What next‍

It is set to expand into Europe

A consortium of investors, including Preqin founder Mark O’Hare, have acquired a 41% stake in land acquisition platform Verafind, Green Street News can reveal.

The stake in the business, formerly known as VirginLand by Ringley, has been sold by Ringley, which founded the company in 2022.

Other investors joining O’Hare include Will Killick and Andrew Pettit, founding partners of the £4.5bn-assets under management private equity real estate investment manager Revcap Advisors; and Darryl Flay, co-founder of the Macquarie-backed rental housing investment manager Goodstone Living.

Co-founded by managing director Dan Robinson, Verafind — which includes Taylor Wimpey, Eon and Wates in its client base — acts as an outsourced land department for developers, investors and asset owners across all residential and commercial sub-sectors. It also works in infrastructure, with clients in EV, roadside, energy and industrial development.

The company is led by Robinson, agency director Charlie Youngs and operations director Freddy Hoare. The London-headquartered business currently has 15 staff.

The consortium’s investment will support Verafind’s next phase of growth, which includes the enhancement of AI capabilities, improved data infrastructure and an expansion into Europe. Ringley Group will continue to play an active role in supporting the business’s future growth.

O’Hare said:
“Land acquisition and planning have always been bottlenecks in the property industry, causing delays and costs for landowners and developers alike — not to mention for our country, which urgently needs more houses.”

“Verafind changes all of that, by streamlining and professionalising the entire process for the benefit of all. I’m excited to be involved with a growing young business that is transforming the property industry — and also from my own experience at Preqin I know how powerful the right data and data-enabled services are in streamlining commerce, and what fantastic businesses they can evolve to be.”

Robinson added:
“This is an exciting strategic milestone for the business that demonstrates proof of concept, where we are leveraging sophisticated technological solutions to unlock a deeply opaque land market.

“Our new investors recognise that as the AI landscape evolves, there is early mover advantage to be had by backing emerging companies applying it to a part of the real estate market that has always suffered from a lack of innovation.

“The new investment will help us achieve scale at an accelerated pace, enabling us to enhance our existing capabilities in AI, data and modelling, while providing the freedom to build out new products and expand into new geographies.”