The ClearScore Group, a British financial marketplace, today announced the acquisition of Acre Platforms Limited, a fellow British technology solutions provider to the mortgage industry.
The acquisition is set to accelerate ClearScore’s entry into the mortgage industry, adding to its position in unsecured credit broking. It follows their successful acquisition of Aro Finance in early 2025, which expanded its capabilities in secured loans.
Justin Basini, co-founder and CEO of the ClearScore Group, said: “Acre is a great addition to the ClearScore Group, and we will support the business on its exciting growth trajectory. ClearScore brings the brand, the reach, the user-permissioned data at scale and one of the most advanced, reliable and unique fintech stacks in the industry. Combine that with Acre’s leading CRM platform for intermediaries, and you have an exciting set of technology platforms , data assets and APIs spanning unsecured credit, auto finance and now mortgages.”
Sector analysis points to continued activity around mortgage, housing-finance and adjacent FinTech models, providing context for ClearScore Group’s acquisition of Acre Platforms.
In February 2025, Madrid-based Libeen secured €25 million to scale its “Smarthousing” model, which combines alternative financing structures with technology to lower barriers to home ownership in Spain, with funding earmarked for expansion, technology development and asset growth.
Elsewhere, Valencia-based Colibid was recently highlighted by EU-Startups as a digital mortgage marketplace connecting borrowers, banks and brokers through a bidding-style platform; the company has raised around €0.5 million to date to support product development and market entry.
Within this landscape, ClearScore’s move to acquire, rather than fund, Acre reflects a parallel trend of established FinTech groups expanding into mortgages through consolidation, complementing the venture funding seen among earlier-stage specialists in the same sector.
This also comes one year after ClearScore secured €36.1 million in debt financing from HSBC Innovation Banking UK.
“This perfectly complements our successful push into the secured loans market, building on the significant growth we have seen in our home lending business in 2025. The acquisition allows us to accelerate our mortgage strategy with Acre technology powering our home lending business and helping us deliver compelling new experiences for our users,” adds Justin.
ClearScore helps over 25 million people access credit, insurance and other financial products. Operating for over ten years, the Group founded its flagship UK credit marketplace in 2015 and has since expanded into markets across four continents, as well as into a new vertical with its DriveScore app.
ClearScore’s API integrations with financial institution partners help those partners convert more customers, boost revenue and manage risk, with over 200 partner relationships worldwide.
Serving over 25 million users around the world, ClearScore’s financial marketplaces work by matching users to credit cards, loans and car finance via a mix of credit and affordability data, facilitated through credit reports and open banking. ClearScore intends Acre to become an integral layer of the mortgage ecosystem, in the same way that D•One, its open banking service for lenders, has become an integral layer of the credit ecosystem.
On the other side of today’s acquisition sits Acre, founded in 2018, whose mission is to change the process of buying a property – making owning a home faster, easier, more transparent, and ultimately cheaper for consumers.
Justus Brown, CEO at Acre, says: Our mission has always been to simplify the mortgage journey, taking the pain out of the process so that consumers can get into their homes quicker. Our data-driven approach has led us to building a platform that’s transformed brokers’ businesses in the UK. Joining the ClearScore Group is an exciting next step in our evolution that allows us to accelerate our drive to become the leading tech platform for the mortgage industry.
“We’re pleased to announce this acquisition as it sets up exciting growth opportunities aligned with ClearScore’s strong brand, tech platform and lender integrations.”
Under new ownership, Acre will continue to provide technology solutions for mortgage and protection businesses, and together with ClearScore, aim to deliver quality home-buying experience, meeting the demand of ClearScore’s 16 million user base in the UK.
ClearScore will then extend its mortgage platform into the ClearScore businesses in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
This partnership now means that ClearScore can now route demand for mortgages from its users to Acre’s broker ecosystem via the platform. Acre will provide the Group with additional property, mortgage, and affordability data, enriching insights for homeowners and home buyers within ClearScore’s platform.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/01/clearscore-strengthens-mortgage-strategy-with-acquisition-of-fellow-london-based-acre-platforms/
