European iBuyer Kodit Buys Spanish PropTech Firm Lucas

The pan-European iBuyer Kodit.io has acquired Spanish PropTech startup Lucas for an undisclosed sum. Headquartered in Finland with operations domestically as well as in Poland and Spain, the iBuying specialist has added Lucas's 15,000 or so rent-to-buy customers to its portfolio via the deal announced late last week.

Founded in 2018 with a fractional-ownership model and a mission to make it easier for young Spaniards to overcome the hurdle of the large deposits required by mortgage lenders and own a property, Lucas built up its client base to attract the attention of a company in Kodit.io which was armed with a freshly raised €100m in debt and equity late last year.

Lucas co-founder and CEO Steven Aitkenhead, who formed part of our panel of PropTech experts at 'PPW en español' back in December, will now take on the role of Kodit.io Country Manager for Spain where Lucas's rent-to-buy product will sit alongside the Kodit's bread and butter iBuyer model.

The Spanish real estate market with its relatively high-uniformity stock is an interesting one for European iBuyers. Italian iBuyer Casavo expanded operations to Madrid in early 2020 and since then the country has gone on to become the company's second most important market.