During a 7-year partnership, BrickVest launched 3 products for real estate investors and ran 6+ stack upgrade projects.
The company’s single platform evolved into multiple applications serving different investor segments, leading to BrickVest's acquisition by Patrizia in 2020.
Partnership goal:
→ To transform BrickVest's competitive fintech ideas into modern, scalable web applications ready for market success.
BrickVest
BrickVest is a real estate investment platform that connects investors with various investment opportunities in the property market.
The company provides services for both private investors and large sponsors through BrickVest Classic and BrickVest Debt, while also offering tools for real estate brokers.
INDUSTRY
Fintech
COUNTRY
United Kingdom
SERVICE PROVIDED
Web application development, Platform modernization
Challenge
BrickVest entered the market with ambitious plans to democratize real estate investing. Their initial goal was a crowdfunding platform where property owners could find investors for their projects.
The team realized they needed tailored solutions for 2 different investor segments.
1. Large-scale investors
They needed sophisticated tools for substantial investments.
2. Smaller investors
They wanted access to commercial real estate opportunities traditionally out of reach.
BrickVest also wanted a foundation to quickly launch new fintech products without starting from scratch.
They had deep financial expertise and product ideas but lacked the technical resources to build, scale, and maintain multiple platforms.
They needed a partner who could handle everything from infrastructure to user interface while keeping pace with their ambitions.
Key challenges
→ To build a crowdfunding platform that could handle real estate investments securely and at scale
→ To create specialized platforms for different investor segments with distinct needs and investment sizes
→ To develop a reusable framework that would speed up the creation of future fintech applications
→ To manage complex AWS infrastructure while maintaining high availability for financial transactions
→ To deliver modern UX/UI that would make real estate investing accessible to a broader audience
The stakes
BrickVest was entering one of the most competitive and regulated sectors in technology. Their financial platform needed to be rock-solid, secure, and user-friendly.
Any technical missteps could damage the company's reputation and slow their growth in a fast-moving market.
Solution
Project leadership
The Software House built a development team that could own every aspect of the technical execution.
Rather than just writing code, we took responsibility for the entire technology stack, from AWS infrastructure management to UX/UI design.
Throughout the project, we worked in Scrum sprints with close collaboration between our developers and BrickVest's Product Owner and business team.
Architecture work
We started with the core crowdfunding platform, then evolved the architecture as BrickVest's strategy matured.
We built BrickVest Classic to serve high-value investors making substantial real estate investments.
Then we created BrickVest Debt, which opened commercial real estate opportunities to smaller investors who wanted to participate with lower minimums.
We also developed BrickVest Next, a framework that let the team spin up new fintech applications faster by reusing proven components and patterns.
Technologies
Node.js, Symfony, PHP, ExtJS, Amazon Web Services
"The Software House is providing exceptional developers and technical knowledge that allowed us to build the next generation platform. Something that, especially in the industry we are operating, was unseen."
Rafal Okninski
Chief Technology Officer, BrickVest
Process
Team Composition
The Software House formed a full-stack Scrum team that scaled up and down based on BrickVest's business needs.
At peak capacity, the team included 22 specialists: 12 Node.js developers, 3 DevOps experts, 2 Project Managers, 2 Technical Writers, 2 QA specialists, and 1 Designer.
Timeline
The project ran from February 2015 through October 2021, with development work continuing throughout that period.
After October 2021, we transitioned to DevOps support to maintain the infrastructure.
Outcome
BrickVest built multiple fintech platforms that attracted over 100 verified lenders and listed €788 million in loans, ultimately leading to acquisition by Patrizia, a major real estate investment manager.
→ €788 million in loans listed on the platform as of July 2021, demonstrating significant market traction
→ Over 100 verified lenders joined the platform, creating a robust ecosystem of real estate investment opportunities
