Keyzy Secures €147M to Expand Rent-to-Own Home Portfolio Across London

London‑based PropTech startup Keyzy, which helps aspiring homeowners overcome barriers to property ownership, has secured €147 million (approximately £130 million) in asset‑backed funding to significantly expand its rent‑to‑own home portfolio across Greater London over the next 18 months. The investment will enable the company to acquire more than 250 new homes by 2027, targeting young professionals, key workers, and other renters locked out of traditional homeownership paths.

The funding was provided by Crayon Partners, a real estate private equity firm specialising in alternative living sectors, as part of a novel operational and property company (OpCo‑PropCo) partnership that allows Keyzy to scale property acquisitions with institutional capital. This structure is reported to be one of the first of its kind in Europe for a rent‑to‑own model, positioning Keyzy to bring in additional capital partners in the future and grow its property portfolio more efficiently.

Founded in 2021 by Simon Groll and Jeremy Matallah, Keyzy’s platform is designed to help renters convert their rent payments into a deposit for eventual homeownership. Under a rent‑to‑own agreement, tenants sign a fixed‑term lease with a pre‑agreed purchase price, and up to 100 % of their rent payments can be applied toward the deposit required to buy the property, potentially enabling renters to reach the typical 10 % deposit threshold within about two years — a stark contrast to the estimated up to 14 years it might otherwise take an average London renter to save that sum under traditional methods.

Keyzy uses Open Banking and additional data sources to verify applicants’ income, rapidly set budgets, and approve applications, streamlining what can be a slow and opaque process in conventional property purchasing. During the lease period, residents also gain access to Keyzy’s Klink coaching app, which provides home‑buying coaching and financial guidance. The company reports that it also reports rental payments to credit reference agencies so that tenants can build their credit scores, further enhancing their ability to secure a mortgage when they decide to buy.

This latest capital commitment builds on the company’s earlier £3 million seed round raised in January 2023, which was co‑led by Axeleo Capital and Outward VC, with participation from Global Founders Capital, ActivumSG Ventures, and Seed X Liechtenstein AG. That seed funding supported early technology development and property acquisitions, laying the foundation for Keyzy’s growth strategy in the UK housing market.

With the new asset‑backed facility, Keyzy has already begun deploying capital, reporting acquisitions of £30 million (around €34 million) worth of properties in the fourth quarter of 2025 under the OpCo‑PropCo partnership. This early activity signals momentum as the company scales its portfolio and demonstrates its ability to move beyond seed‑stage operations toward institutional‑scale property investment and management.

Keyzy’s rent‑to‑own model addresses a persistent challenge in the UK housing market, where high property prices and strict mortgage requirements have made first‑time buying increasingly difficult, especially in major urban centres like London. By locking in purchase prices at the start of a lease and converting rent into deposit equity, the company provides a tangible route to ownership that could appeal to renters otherwise stuck in long‑term private rental arrangements.

Co‑founder Simon Groll has described the funding as evidence of the impact Keyzy has made in helping renters “escape the savings trap” and progress toward their primary financial objective — owning a home. The company’s strategic focus on well‑connected neighbourhoods in West and North‑West London aims to serve communities with strong demand from young professionals and key workers who are often priced out of traditional mortgage pathways.

In addition to property acquisition, Keyzy’s technology infrastructure — including income verification, underwriting automation, and digital coaching — is designed to accelerate the pace at which renters can transition to buyers while maintaining financial health and creditworthiness. The model also offers flexibility: if a tenant chooses not to buy after the lease period, they can leave without obligation, though they forgo the rent‑to‑deposit conversion benefit.

As Keyzy scales its property portfolio and operations with institutional backing from Crayon Partners, its ambitious goal is to establish rent‑to‑own as a mainstream route to homeownership in the UK. The company’s approach blends property investment, fintech underwriting, and behavioural coaching to create a comprehensive alternative to traditional mortgage‑dependent paths, with the potential to reshape how homeownership is accessed in high‑cost urban markets.