Unibo, a bank for the real estate sector

After 35 years as a property manager, Pedro García has taken the step to satisfy what he says is one of the great demands of this group of professionals: the existence of its own bank to cover the needs of the communities of owners and lessors.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
18 May 2022 Wednesday 06:20
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Unibo, a bank for the real estate sector

After 35 years as a property manager, Pedro García has taken the step to satisfy what he says is one of the great demands of this group of professionals: the existence of its own bank to cover the needs of the communities of owners and lessors. He started alone, at the end of 2021, but Javier Sánchez-Marco, an expert in technological entrepreneurship, soon joined the project. Together they have founded Unibo, “the first neobank created by and for real estate professionals”, in the words of the entrepreneurs.

Unibo has been operational since April 2022. The start-up has taken more than a year of development and has already raised more than one million euros in investment. "We closed a first round of financing of 500,000 euros in November 2021, and in April of this year we closed a second round of 600,000 euros," explains García. Among the investors, some of the main venture capital funds and companies in the real estate world stand out, such as Draper B1, Cafur, Serra Inmobiliaria, Organ, Sisquella Grup, BCN-Tradis or Novadmin Property Management.

On the other hand, in response to the interest shown by agents in the sector in participating in the project, the co-founders have launched a crowdfunding campaign aimed exclusively at collegiate property managers and in which they hope to raise an additional 525,000 euros.

The new financial entity, based in Barcelona, ​​promises to "make life easier for property managers and real estate agents" and "savings of between 30% and 70% for neighborhood communities," says García. They operate throughout Spain, where they are closing agreements with professional associations and associations in the sector. Entrepreneurs expect to end the year with 500 of the 15,000 property administrators in the country as clients, which they estimate is equivalent to some 50,000 checking accounts. If fulfilled, Unibo would arrive at the end of the year with a monthly turnover of 500,000 euros.

With a team of 17 people, the owners of Unibo are studying entering other international markets, with France, Portugal and Italy as the first destinations in 2023. They are also working to offer new products such as financing lines, insurance or digital payments. Always with the aim of making life easier for property managers and real estate agents. Unibo's ultimate goal is to become the benchmark financial partner for these professionals.


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