Tembo, a digital savings and mortgage platform focused on helping first-time buyers onto the property ladder, has secured £16m in growth investment.
According to Business Cloud, the funding round was led by new backer Gresham House Ventures, with continued support from existing investors Goodwater Capital, Aviva Investors, McPike Family Office, Love Ventures and Ascension.
Tembo has positioned itself as a new type of savings and mortgage FinTech, bringing together deposit-building products and mortgage advice within a single digital platform. Through its app, customers can set aside money using a range of products including Lifetime ISAs, Cash ISAs and Fixed Rate ISAs, all structured to make progress towards a property deposit more transparent. The company has also introduced HomeSaver, a combined savings and mortgage product offering a 5.24% savings rate for customers who use Tembo’s free digital mortgage advice service to purchase or remortgage a home, linking saving and borrowing in a way that differs from traditional providers.
Beyond the initial purchase, the platform continues to support users after they have bought their home. Customers can track their mortgage in real time via the app, with visibility over remortgage rates available from their existing lender and across the wider market.
The newly raised capital will be used to enhance Tembo’s app and broaden its end-to-end homebuying proposition. Following what the company described as a breakout year in 2025, its savings arm expanded tenfold to reach £3bn in assets under administration, as more customers turned to the app to plan and finance their first home. Tembo says it is aiming to capture 20% of the UK first-time buyer market within the next two years.
Founded in 2020 by Richard Dana, Eddie Ross and Geoff Wright, the business began as a specialist digital mortgage broker designed to improve affordability for borrowers underserved by conventional routes. Central to its model is proprietary underwriting technology intended to widen access to homeownership for customers who struggle to meet standard affordability criteria. The firm now works with more than 100 organisations, including Aviva and Saga, embedding mortgage guidance and affordability tools directly into partner customer journeys.
Tembo CEO Richard Dana said, “This investment is a major milestone for Tembo as we continue building a platform that doesn’t just help people find and secure a mortgage, but puts them genuinely in control of their journey to homeownership, from the first pound they save to the day they get the keys.”
He added, “The time has come for a more digital, data-led approach to consumer mortgage and wealth journeys, and we believe Tembo is perfectly positioned to become the market leader over the coming years as more people look for a smarter, end-to-end way to get on and move up the property ladder.”
Copyright © 2026 FinTech Global
