41% stake sale funds AI and geospatial tools to speed land sourcing
This article covers Verafind, a London-headquartered proptech startup, and its sale of a 41% stake to a consortium of investors. The capital is intended to fund enhancements to the startup's AI and data infrastructure and to support expansion into Europe, targeting developers, asset owners and infrastructure projects to speed land identification and acquisition.
Verafind, a London-headquartered proptech startup, has sold a 41% stake to a consortium of investors. The capital will fund enhancements to its AI, data infrastructure and an expansion into Europe, as the company looks to speed up land identification and acquisition for developers, asset owners and infrastructure projects.
Why it matters
Land sourcing and planning are persistent bottlenecks for housebuilding and development in the UK. Verafind positions itself as an outsourced land department that automates parts of that process using AI and geospatial datasets. If effective, that automation could reduce time and cost friction for developers and potentially make more sites viable for development, with knock-on effects for housing supply and infrastructure delivery.
Inside the product
Verafind uses AI, proprietary data and in-house geospatial tools to identify potential development sites, assess lease structures and evaluate site potential before engaging vendors. The platform generates acquisition strategies, viability assessments, planning reports and valuation models to guide developers and investors.
The business serves housebuilders and infrastructure clients — named customers include Taylor Wimpey, the energy company Eon and construction group Wates — and also works on EV, roadside, energy and industrial development projects. Verafind’s core team of around 15 is led by co-founder and Managing Director Dan Robinson, with Charlie Youngs as Agency Director and Freddy Hoare as Operations Director.
Who are the investors?
Who are the investors?
A consortium has taken a 41% stake in Verafind. Named participants include Mark O’Hare (founder of Preqin), Will Killick and Andrew Pettit (Founding Partners of Revcap Advisors, a private equity real estate manager with £4.5bn assets under management), and Darryl Flay (co-founder of Goodstone Living, a Macquarie-backed rental housing investment manager and an early figure in UK build-to-rent).
Ringley Group — the property and asset management company that co-founded Verafind in 2022 when the business traded as VirginLand by Ringley — has sold its majority stake to allow this external investment. Ringley will remain actively involved and retain board representation.
The investment is earmarked to enhance Verafind’s AI capabilities, strengthen its data infrastructure and support a planned expansion into European markets.
Land acquisition and planning have always been bottlenecks in the property industry; causing delays and costs for landowners and developers alike - not to mention for our country, which urgently needs more houses. Verafind changes all of that, by streamlining and professionalising the entire process for the benefit of all. I’m excited to be involved with a growing young business that is transforming the property industry - and also from my own experience at Preqin I know how powerful the right data and data-enabled services are in streamlining commerce; and what fantastic businesses they can evolve to be.
Mark O’Hare
We’ve been on an exciting journey with the Verafind team, incubating the business from a standing start to the successful platform it is today. We’re proud of our achievements to date and the new investment represents the start of a new chapter, and we’re looking forward to continuing our relationship with Dan, Charlie and the team.
Mary-Anne Bowring, Co-Founder of VirginLand by Ringley and Managing Director of Ringley Group
We are proud to have created a lasting land search platform, we welcome the new investors and the broad range of additional expertise they bring, this will undoubtedly accelerate Verafind’s capability to emerge as class leader in data driven site acquisition and look forward to continuing on the Board and working alongside the investor consortium.
Mehdi Mehra, Group Chairman of Ringley Group
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Founder perspective
Dan Robinson, Verafind’s co-founder and managing director, framed the deal as proof of concept and a way to accelerate the product roadmap. He said the funding will help the company scale faster and extend its AI, data and modelling capabilities while opening new geographies.
This is an exciting strategic milestone for the business that demonstrates proof of concept, where we are leveraging sophisticated technological solutions to unlock a deeply opaque land market. Our new investors recognise that as the AI landscape evolves, there is early mover advantage to be had by backing emerging companies applying it to a part of the real estate market that has always suffered from a lack of innovation.
The new investment will help us achieve scale at an accelerated pace, enabling us to enhance our existing capabilities in AI, data and modelling, while providing the freedom to build out new products and expand into new geographies.
Dan Robinson, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Verafind
Robinson’s emphasis is on product depth (data and modelling) as much as geographic reach. The presence of housebuilders and infrastructure clients among customers underscores the platform’s commercial focus: it is being positioned to sit alongside traditional land teams rather than replace them.
The bigger picture
The deal signals continued interest from experienced real estate and data investors in proptech solutions that target specific industry pain points such as land sourcing and planning. Institutional and operator-led investors are increasingly backing companies that combine domain expertise with data tools to reduce friction in development pipelines.
For policymakers and practitioners focused on housing delivery and infrastructure, the march of data-driven tooling will raise questions about data access, planning system integration and the distributional effects of faster site identification. As Verafind expands in Europe, it will also need to navigate differing planning regimes and data availability across markets.
This transaction sits within a broader trend of capital flowing into proptech firms that address operational inefficiencies in development and asset management; it will be worth watching whether the promised AI and data improvements translate into materially faster site assembly and planning outcomes in the UK and beyond.
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