London FinTechs StepLadder and Squad have announced a merger.
The start-ups are coming together to evolve their offering of a peer-to-peer platform which aims to help a generation of renters get on to the property ladder.
StepLadder is a collaborative deposit peer-to-peer saving platform while Squad is a collaborative savings platform.
Squad鈥檚 existing offer will integrate into the StepLadder platform to improve its user experience and communication with members of its deposit-saving 鈥榗ircles鈥�.
The two companies announced in February their partnership to enable StepLadder members to engage via Squad鈥檚 app.
Mihir Bhushan, CPO and co-founder of Squad, will join the StepLadder team and lead the development of its 鈥楶latform 2.0鈥�, planned to be released later this year.
鈥淲e are delighted to join forces with Squad,鈥� said Matthew Addison, CEO and co-founder of StepLadder.
鈥淭heir elegant, innovative offering is infused with deep thinking on the opportunity, and barriers, to delivering collaborative finance.
鈥淐ombined with our accelerating membership, together we expect to deliver an immediate leap forward for member experience and scalability.
鈥淲e know the next step for us is to better utilise technology to build community on our platform. Both StepLadder and Squad see the wave of collaborative personal finance rising.鈥�
Bhushan said: “I am really excited to join the StepLadder founding team. We’re driven by the same vision for a collaborative future in financial services.
鈥淭ogether, we will address a key social issue by helping people get the keys to their new homes sooner.
鈥淥ur combined offering has the potential to be the first genuinely new mainstream deposit saving techniques in a generation.”