40 Development Finance Partners

Founded in 2011 by Baxter Gamble and Matthew Royal, Development Finance Partners is a construction and development finance group based in Brisbane and Sydney that turned over $2.1 million last year.

Gamble previously owned a brokerage business financing property developers, which was sold in 2007.

He told SmartCompany his previous experience taught him there was a market to assist property developers with finance but also to provide advisory services to both property developers and banks.

“Experience was often lacking in both sectors and both banks and developers often needed expert advice to help them maximise development profits or alternatively to help create a solution to deal with developments that financially were no longer sound,” he says.

Gamble cites the most challenging aspect of the business as letting the market know that Development Finance Partners existed. He says utilising social media proved one of their biggest successes.

“Harnessing social media from the very early days of our business (particularly LinkedIn) helped us quickly create relationships and develop some brand awareness in a medium where our competitors either didn’t have a presence or had a poor one,” he says.

Gamble says the next big move will involve DFP creating its own private fund to provide finance to developments, without having to work with third parties.

“We can also partner with other brokers looking for capital, by providing access to capital through our own fund,” he says.

“We are planning to have $50 million in funds under management by Financial Year End 2016.”

Gamble says the successful launch of DFP’s own fund will be the key driver to growth in the next 12 months.

“This will open up funding sources for property development and allow us to expand our reach beyond our own brand,” he says.