Why We Invested in Heimkapital

Unlocking Billions in Dormant Home Equity

In Germany alone, there are 32 million individuals over 55 years old with ~55% of them living in a privately owned home, according to BVIV. At the same time, more than 35% of this age group retire with less than €10,000 in savings. This mismatch has created a class of "asset-rich, but cash-poor" seniors who are ill-equipped to handle rising living costs, long-term care needs or necessary renovations to older properties. As a result, there is an estimated €70 billion market potential for equity release solutions in Germany with an upward trend. 

💥 Heimkapital offers different solutions through a number of equity release products, including a partial property sale and a ground rent model. The team is currently developing new products to expand its portfolio and offer its clients an even larger variety of options. All products have in common that they allow homeowners to generate liquidity from their property without moving out. The model redefines traditional homeownership by introducing hybrid structures between the traditional binary choice of owning OR renting a property, that offer liquidity, security and optionality.

This gives homeowners access to capital for:

1. Funding retirement: equity releases can provide homeowners with a source of income that they can use to supplement their retirement savings.
2. Paying for long-term care: equity releases can be used to help pay for long-term care, such as assisted living or in-home care, if the homeowner is unable to manage on his own.
3. Making home improvements: equity releases can provide homeowners with the funds needed to make home improvements or renovations, which can increase the value of the property and improve the quality of life for the homeowner.
4. Providing financial support to family members: equity release schemes can also be used to provide financial support to family members, such as children or grandchildren, in the most tax beneficial way (early inheritance).

By initially targeting the needs of the individual homeowner, Heimkapital aims to build economies of scale by reaching a large number of households. With this bottom-up approach Heimkapital is set to grow its platform as a lifelong partner to the homeowner, while creating opportunities for larger capital allocators, banks and insurers:

1. New investment asset class: real estate transactions can be pooled together creating a new investment class for both  institutional capital and family offices searching for a diversified portfolio of residential real estate. The Heimkapital origination engine allows sourcing off-market assets at scale and offers an attractive risk-reward ratio.
2. With its portfolio, Heimkapital offers a decentralized solution to finance the energy transition. Heimkapital empowers the home owner with liquidity, project management services, network of qualitative suppliers and beneficial framework agreements to upgrade the aging housing stock at the lowest cost and with the lowest hassle, while capitalizing on the value increase going forward. Framework agreements are being set up with solar panel installers, heat pump installers, insulation companies, etc.
3. Additional services for banks, insurance companies and real estate brokers: Heimkapital creates a new white-labeled product for banks to reactivate a relationship with less active clients. Insurance companies can provide insurance coverage for the properties and real estate brokers attract more clients by providing new products and differentiating themselves from the competition.

Why We Initially Invested

We saw Heimkapital as uniquely positioned to capture a massive, untapped opportunity in the European residential market. At the time of our investment during the Series A round, several factors set Heimkapital apart:

1. Tech-Enabled Origination Machine: Heimkapital is fundamentally a data-driven platform. It uses advanced real estate analytics, supported by integrations with companies like our portfolio company Casafari, to identify, underwrite, and manage equity release deals at scale. Its digital interface streamlines onboarding, pricing, and customer interaction, transforming a traditionally high-touch process into a scalable platform.
2. Capital-Light Scalability via Bank Financing: In a capital-intensive industry like real estate, scalability often requires owning assets. Heimkapital flipped the model. By securing a landmark €300 million debt facility from Volksbank, it demonstrated that partial homeownership could be scaled without a substantial equity need. This structure allows Heimkapital to act more like a financial platform for sourcing properties, with an operating model closer to fintech than traditional real estate.
3. Multiple Monetization Pathways: Heimkapital's model supports organic growth through homeowner needs (retirement, care, renovations), but it also enables new distribution channels via white-labeled offerings for banks and insurers. The long-term optionality includes right-of-first-refusal on fully acquiring properties, which compounds the value of their initial investments.

A Strategy Already in Motion

While the REOP strategy is only now being formally articulated, its foundation has long been visible in our portfolio. Alongside YouStock and HolaCamp, Heimkapital stands as a compelling proof point of our conviction in tech-enabled, asset/capital-light platforms that address systemic inefficiencies in real estate. It exemplifies how the REOP pillars are already at work and signals the kind of ventures we’ll continue to back as we scale this strategy into its next phase.

In particular Heimkapital tackles some of our fundamental REOP criteria:

• Addresses supply-demand imbalance: Germany’s housing market faces a lack of liquidity for aging homeowners. Heimkapital directly targets this imbalance by unlocking dormant home equity among seniors.
• Operates and achieves scale without substantial capital allocation: By securing multiple bank facilities, they scaled its equity release platform without raising significant equity or overburdening its balance sheet.
• Leverages technology to scale homeowner origination: From customer acquisition and onboarding to underwriting and home valuation, the company operates a fully digitized process that reduces friction and lowers customer acquisition costs.
• Institutional exit potential: By aggregating partial ownership in thousands of single-family homes, Heimkapital is assembling a portfolio of low-volatility, low-management assets that resemble the stability and yield profile of SFR (“Single Family Residential”) portfolios. These equity stakes, combined with rights of first refusal on full ownership, position the company to build a pipeline of future whole-home acquisitions.

As we look ahead to the next phase of REOP, Heimkapital (among others) stands as an early indicator of the kind of scalable, impact-driven platforms we aim to support.