Residential property crowdfunding platform Property Partner has launched a £5.2m funding round, aimed at transforming the way people can invest in the residential property market.

The firm enables people to invest as much or as little as they like in individual residential properties – just as they can in company stocks.

The investment, led by Index Ventures, will be used to help Property Partner create a ‘global stock exchange’ for residential property.

Index Ventures – investors in fintech pioneers such as TransferWise, Funding Circle and Wealthfront – join Property Partner’s existing investors who include Octopus Ventures, backers of Zoopla.

Launched in January, Property Partner currently lists properties in London and the south-east.

To date, more than 1,000 people have invested sums ranging from £50 to £50,000 in homes through Property Partner’s crowdfunding platform, with the average investment size rising continually since launch.

In addition, Property Partner says it has already seen significant activity on its ‘resale’ market, where investors can trade shares in fully-funded properties. For example, the first property to be crowdfunded on the Property Partner platform, a house based in Croydon, has seen more than 50% of its shares traded on the resale market.

Neil Rimer, co-founder of Index Ventures, and Ed Wray, co-founder of Betfair, which floated on the London Exchange at a valuation of £1.4bn, will join Property Partner’s board of directors. Both are also directors of Funding Circle, the peer-to-peer lending marketplace.

Property Partner’s CEO Daniel Gandesha said: “Index are a great investor to have on board. I can’t imagine anyone better placed to help us deliver our long-term vision for Property Partner as a global stock exchange for residential property.

“We are convinced that this model for property investing is a highly attractive alternative to buying properties directly. We also believe strongly in providing tenants with a more professional service, because tenants who are treated well and fairly are more likely to stay longer.

“We want to be the property investment method of choice for the UK and beyond.”

Neil Rimer, co-founder at Index Ventures, said: “A reinvention of residential property as an asset class is currently under way. It is being democratised and opened up to a far broader range of people, who can now invest without the hassle and liquidity problems that have traditionally plagued direct investment in property.

“In Property Partner, we believe we are backing an exceptional team with the skills to spearhead the growth of this exciting new sector and take property crowdfunding into the mainstream, across the globe.”