Fintech has evolved into a landscape of highly specialized micro-services. Amidst this fragmentation, with services ranging from embedded buy-now-pay-later loans to niche neo-banks, U.K. startup Just Move In has identified a significant opportunity: streamlining the often-overlooked process of setting up a new home.
The company has now secured an $8 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Eos Ventures, a prominent global insurtech venture capital firm. This strategic investment will enable Just Move In to integrate embedded financial services, simplifying the process of securing credit and insurance products. The company anticipates managing over 400,000 home moves by 2025.
The core concept is centered around simplifying a traditionally complex process. While comparison sites offer options for utilities and insurance, they can often create a fragmented and time-consuming experience. Just Move In provides a single point of entry for managing multiple services. Also participating in this funding round are Wayra, the innovation arm of Telefónica, as well as Second Century Ventures. Additionally, The FSE Group and angel investors including Simon Rogerson and Chris Hulatt, founders of Octopus Group continued their support. This follows a £4 million seed round (approximately $5 million at current exchange rates) raised in 2022.
Just Move In integrates services from partners like Openrent, the largest letting agency in the U.K., and real estate agent Hamptons, along with Alto, a residential property software, data, and insight company, and Anyvan.
“When you move in, there are dozens of services that need to be connected such as council tax, water, sewage, gas, energy, broadband, home insurance. The list goes on,” co-founder Ross Nichols explained to TechCrunch. “We have built a platform that helps to streamline that process.”
Just Move In leverages information from the estate agent’s CRM to analyze available services. As Nichols stated, “So you come into our journey, and rather than having to end up on a dozen plus different websites to complete all those transactions and repeat your payment details, you do it once, and it’s set up for you.” He added, “The main benefit for the customer is they’re saving a huge amount of time and it’s free service. We get paid in the same way that a price comparison site works. So we are competing indirectly now with the big price comparison sites, but we’re embedded into the flow of the move.”
Currently, Just Move In manages upwards of 300,000 moves in the U.K., representing nearly 10% of the market. Regarding the future, Nichols told TechCrunch, “The plan is to take this to Europe.”
James Tootell, Partner at Eos Ventures, commented, “Just Move In’s innovative approach to combining home services with financial products represents the future of consumer-focused FinTech.”
