This UK Proptech Startup Just Hit a $250M Valuation—Here's How

Jan de Vries · 2026-07-24

Street Group, a Manchester-based company that builds software and AI tools for the UK residential property market, just landed a major investment from Hg. The deal values the company at over $250 million (roughly £200 million). This isn't just another funding round. It's a signal that vertical software—especially when paired with AI—is becoming the backbone of industries that have long relied on spreadsheets and outdated systems. ### What Street Group Actually Does Founded in 2015 by siblings Tom and Heather Staff, Street Group (originally called Agent Software) creates an integrated operating system for estate and letting agents. Think of it as the control center for everything a real estate agent does in the UK. Their product lineup includes: - **Street.co.uk** – a core CRM that manages client relationships - **Spectre** – a prospecting and lead-generation platform - **Cortex** – an AI-native tool that lets agents build and manage their own AI agents That last one is key. Cortex isn't just a chatbot. It's a platform that lets agents create custom AI workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and basically get more done without hiring more people. ### Why Hg Bet Big on Street Group Hg is no small player. They manage over $110 billion in assets and have a portfolio of around 60 businesses worth more than $190 billion combined. They invest in software companies that are already winning in their markets. Louis Kinsella, a partner at Hg, put it this way: "Street is exactly the kind of business we love to back. It's a category leader with a technical edge, loved by its customers, and is deeply embedded in their daily workflows." That last part—"deeply embedded in their daily workflows"—is what investors look for. It means customers don't just use the product; they rely on it. Switching costs are high, which makes the business sticky and predictable. ### The AI Angle That Changes Everything Street Group's AI push is what makes this deal interesting. They're not just adding basic automation. Cortex lets agents build their own AI agents, which is a different approach entirely. Imagine an estate agent who spends hours each week drafting property descriptions, responding to inquiries, and scheduling viewings. With Cortex, they can create an AI agent that handles those tasks automatically. The agent learns from past interactions and gets better over time. Tom and Heather Staff, the co-CEOs, said: "We built Street to fundamentally change how estate and letting agents work, and AI is central to that mission." ### What This Means for the US Market You might be thinking, "This is a UK story. What does it have to do with me?" More than you'd expect. The US residential real estate market is massive, but it's also fragmented. Most agents still rely on a patchwork of tools—CRMs, lead-gen platforms, marketing software—that don't talk to each other. Street Group's integrated approach could easily translate to the US market. In fact, Hg's strong North American presence (they have offices in New York and San Francisco) suggests they're thinking about expansion. ### The Bottom Line Street Group just proved that vertical software companies can command huge valuations when they combine deep industry knowledge with AI. The $250 million price tag isn't just about revenue; it's about potential. Tom and Heather Staff remain majority shareholders and will keep running the company. That's a good sign. It means the founders are still in control and focused on the long game, not just cashing out. For anyone watching the proptech space, this is a deal worth paying attention to. It shows that AI isn't just for tech giants—it's becoming the competitive edge for businesses that serve traditional industries.