{"id":1241,"date":"2019-09-18T09:37:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T08:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-business-innovation\/?p=1241"},"modified":"2019-11-13T14:51:56","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T14:51:56","slug":"launch-space-business-bunk-to-receive-funding-from-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/launch-space-business-bunk-to-receive-funding-from-nationwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch Space Business Bunk to receive funding from Nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A start-up funded by our alumni, that grew out of Launch Space within the University Enterprise Zone has received investment from Nationwide Building Society<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationwide Building Society yesterday announced its latest venturing fund investment in Bunk, a digital lettings agency. Bunk uses the latest technology, including Open Banking, to help improve the rental market for both landlords and renters \u2013 something the Society, which both represents landlords, as a major buy to let lender, and tenants with over two million members who themselves rent their home, has campaigned on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investment is the latest deal from the \u00a350 million Venturing Fund set up just over a year ago to create partnerships enabling the Society and start-ups to share knowledge and expertise. As part of the fund, Nationwide is making strategic investments in and partnering with early stage start-ups exploring innovative products and services that could provide real benefits for the Society\u2019s members in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Around half of all landlords\nchoose to run their rental businesses on their own. In a market where\nregulations change frequently, landlords often need support in ensuring they\ncomply with the rules. Bunk can automatically list a landlord\u2019s property on\nreputable sites, verify tenants as well as providing peace of mind to tenants\nby verifying the landlord proof of ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service allows landlords to list a property within minutes, which can then be viewed by potential tenants on their website and app as well as on major portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. Bunk can make a landlord\u2019s life easier by processing tenants\u2019 references and completing the tenancy set up within the site. Once the properties are listed, landlords can view them on a dashboard, which also notifies them when a deposit and rent has been paid, saving the need to review their current account statements. Bunk also allows tenants and landlords to correspond within the site, so enquiries such as expressing an interest in renting a property and maintenance requests will go directly to them, providing transparency giving landlords and tenants peace of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To ensure landlords are up to date\nwith their responsibilities and able to comply with the latest regulation, Bunk\noffers prompts and smart insight. For example, landlords are unable to take\nmore than five weeks\u2019 rent as a deposit and the system will not progress if\nthey try to take more than this. In addition, Bunk also offers support and\nadvice for those who have become accidental landlords. Bunk have also partnered\nwith Experian, so tenants who make regular rent payments on time will see this\nreflected in their credit file, something which starts to redress the balance\nbetween renters and homeowners, who\u2019s regular mortgage payments already make up\npart of the credit file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony\nPrestedge, Deputy Chief Executive at Nationwide Building Society, said:<\/strong> \u201cNationwide is one of the biggest\nBuy-to-Let lenders in the UK and we have long campaigned to improve standards\nwithin the rental sector for both tenants and landlords. Bunk is combining the\nlatest digital technology backed up with human service to not only offer a\nseamless digital experience but also reduce friction in the rental market\nbetween tenants and landlords. Many landlords choose to manage their portfolio\non their own, the service that Bunk offers could support them, ensuring they\u2019re\non top of their obligations and providing a better service to their tenants. They\nare a natural fit for our Venturing Fund investment, which seeks to fund\nstart-ups that are focussed on making people\u2019s lives easier through smart\ninsights and fair practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Woollard, CEO at Bunk, said:<\/strong> \u201cWe want to build something the rental market has never seen before. Landlords are facing reduced margins coupled with increased regulation and there has never been a better time to make their lives easier through the use of technology. Bunk is there to make the process less stressful and more enjoyable for both renters and landlords. Bunk\u2019s mission is to make renting work for everyone and we\u2019re thrilled to have a partner like Nationwide backing our vision.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Corderoy, Incubation Manager at Launch Space, said<\/strong> \u201cBunk is a great example of a business that has thrived through the support provided by UWE\u2019s Launch Space incubator. During their time in Launch Space, Bunk grew from a team of 3 graduates to 11 staff, got through to the finals of Pitch@Palace, and successfully developed and executed their current funding round.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launch Space\u2019s role is to provide support, guidance and experience for companies like Bunk as they embark on their entrepreneurial journeys. They provide free desk space and business support for graduate start-up businesses in the heart of the UWE Bristol University Enterprise Zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out more about Bunk visit their <\/strong>website<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launch Space will receive up to \u00a32,000,000 of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the programme’s Managing Authority. Established by the European Union, the ERDF helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects that support innovation, businesses, job creation and local community regeneration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A start-up funded by our alumni, that grew out of Launch Space within the University Enterprise Zone has received investment from Nationwide Building Society: Nationwide Building Society yesterday announced its latest venturing fund investment in Bunk, a digital lettings agency. Bunk uses the latest technology, including Open Banking, to help improve the rental market for … Continue reading “Launch Space Business Bunk to receive funding from Nationwide”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":1244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,127],"tags":[211,97,47,268,205,269,126,100,74,75],"class_list":["post-1241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-enterprise","category-research-business-innovation","tag-alumni","tag-bunk","tag-launch-space","tag-nationwide","tag-start-up","tag-tom-woollard","tag-uez","tag-university-enterprise-zone","tag-uwe","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1241"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1309,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1241\/revisions\/1309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/research-external-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}