Originally printed in The Irish Times
Funding comes as increasingly challenging home-buying market raises profile of brokers
Online mortgage broker Doddl.ie has secured a seven-figure investment that it says will allow it to accelerate the growth of the business. The investment comes as the mortgage market is going through an upheaval, with rising European Central Bank interest rates, the departure of Ulster Bank and KBC from the market and a cost-of-living squeeze that is making home ownership even more difficult for buyers. That is likely to see more people turn to brokers for help in securing finance.
The funding round includes investment from NSN Investments, controlled by Michael Nolan and Steven Scott, and Andrew Murphy’s Merleview Limited. Both will appoint directors to the board of Doddl.ie parent Mortgage Horizons Limited.
Martina Hennessy, Doddl.ie founder and chief executive, said the funding was a “great endorsement” of the business and her team. She said it would allow the business to develop its mortgage offering by implementing technologies ranging form open banking to artificial intelligence. The company says it has handled over €1 billion in residential mortgage applications since it was established three years ago.
“Doddl.ie has achieved a high level of success by anticipating a shift in how consumers prefer to engage with financial services providers,” Ms Hennessy said. “Financial products can be intimidating, and we see a huge opportunity to support Irish consumers through the challenging home-buying process by making the mortgage application experience simpler, less stressful and more transparent.”
*Michael Nolan is an exploration industry veteran, having run listed company Minmet and served as chief financial officer at Cove.
Steven Scott is a founding partner at UK private equity investment group Penta Capital, which specialises in mid-sized companies, typically investing in excess of €5 million.
Andrew Murphy, who founded Sláinte Healthcare, has supported a number of start-ups and scale-ups in recent years, including Robotify Labs which was acquired in 2021 by Imagine Learning, one of the largest digital education providers in the US in a deal valued at close to €20 million.
