Better Announces Acquisition of Trussle Lab Ltd., The UK’s Most Innovative Online Mortgage Broker Approving Over GBP 1.1BN in the Last 12 Months to Help Make Getting a Home Faster, Cheaper and Better for Britons

Trussle’s Large Customer Base and Market Leading Position in the UK Online Mortgage Broking to Facilitate Better’s UK Expansion

Better HoldCo, Inc. (“Better”), one of the fastest-growing digital homeownership platforms in the U.S., today announced its planned acquisition of United Kingdom-based company, Trussle. The acquisition will help Better enter the GBP 1.5 Trillion mortgage market in the UK where it will replicate its success in the US.

In the United Kingdom, the mortgage process takes months to complete, with consumers paying thousands of points in fees and losing hours to needless frictions, all leading to a large number of Britons giving up on owning their own home and the national homeownership rate falling from 73% to 65% over the last 10 years.

“Better eliminates the high financing costs, massive transactional friction, tyranny and mind-numbing bureaucracy that comes with getting a mortgage and buying a home in the UK via a high street bank,” said Vishal Garg, Founder and CEO of Better. “We researched the UK market and were surprised to see how we could make it so much better for consumers buying and financing a home for the first time. We found a kindred spirit in the team at Trussle who have developed a platform that we can work alongside to help every Briton own their own home. Making homeownership affordable and accessible for all customers is a key tenet of a well-functioning credit system and we are here to help grow Trussle and make it even better.”

Trussle is a U.K.-based digital mortgage and insurance broker founded in 2015 that provides high-quality, independent advice to customers who are looking to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage. The company assesses customer suitability, provides advice on mortgage and protection products and interacts with over 90 lenders to close mortgages for U.K. home owners. Since inception, Trussle has sourced over GBP 2.7bn of mortgage approvals for UK consumers with GBP 1.1bn of that in the last 12 months.

“Better and Trussle were both founded on the understanding that consumers increasingly prefer to use online services to shop for and transact on major life purchases. It is 27 years since the World Wide Web was launched and most consumer industries have embraced it by now but the UK mortgage market is still characterized by analogue systems and processes. This market should not require consumers to apply for a mortgage 5 months before the end of the Stamp Duty holiday.” said Ian Larkin, CEO of Trussle. “We are very excited about becoming part of Better, and we are confident that Trussle’s future looks brighter than ever as part of a large and growing international organization that shares our commitment to making homeownership more simple, fair and accessible for all.”

Trussle will accelerate Better’s entry into the U.K. market with an experienced management team, local knowledge and foundational mortgage technology for the UK. Trussle captures critical data on customer demand, lender pricing and risk eligibility matrices that will provide valuable insights when analyzed using Better’s technology. Bringing together these data and capabilities will provide both organizations with unique strengths identifying underserved market segments and evaluating risk.

Better will enhance Trussle’s revenue profile by partnering with it to develop a pipeline of B2B relationships with estate agencies, property developers and financial services companies, invest in customer acquisition and drive attachment rates across product offerings, including insurance and title services (known as “conveyancing” in the U.K.).

The terms of the transaction are not disclosed, and is subject to the receipt of customary regulatory approvals in the United States and the United Kingdom. Ian Larkin and the existing management team will continue to lead Trussle following the acquisition.

About Better

Founded in 2016, Better is a digital-first homeownership company whose services included mortgage, real estate, title, and homeowners insurance. From its founding in 2016 through 2020, Better funded $30.9B in home loans and provided over $7B in cumulative coverage through Better Cover and Better Settlement Services, the insurance divisions of Better. Better has raised over $400M in equity capital since inception. The company was ranked #15 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 2020 list, as well as being listed in Forbes FinTech 50 for 2020. For more information, follow @betterdotcom.

About Trussle

Trussle, the UK’s first digital mortgage broker, was founded in 2015 with the mission of making more home ownership dreams a reality. For many the process of buying and financing a home can be complex and disjointed, which often leads to confusion and frustration for homebuyers. Trussle’s smart technology combined with human expertise enables Trussle to make faster and more informed decisions, providing customers with greater certainty of securing the right deal. Trussle’s relentless focus on customer service has made us one of the highest rated online mortgage brokers on Trustpilot (4.8/5 based on 4,200+ reviews).

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