Prospa secures $25M in funding led by AirTree Ventures; Passes $250 Million in Loans to Small Business
Announcement posted by Prospa 22 Feb 2017
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 22 February 2017 – Prospa, Australia’s leading online lender to small business, has secured $25M in growth funding led by AirTree Ventures – Australia’s most successful tech-focused venture capital firm.
The deal is the largest fintech venture capital investment in an Australian business. Prospa also announced it had passed $250 Million in total loans to small businesses in Australia. The investment comes after a period of significant growth for Prospa who is now the clear market leader for online lending to small businesses in Australia.
Prospa will use the funds to accelerate its market leadership: boosting technology, product expansion and distribution, ramping up talent acquisition and building a world-class brand.
Greg Moshal, Founder and joint CEO of Prospa said continued interest from top technology investors like Airtree, and the scale of their investment, recognises the difficulties small businesses have in accessing finance, and will support Prospa in its growth phase.
"We’re driving a fundamental change in the way 2 million small business owners in Australia access finance.
“We’ve now provided over 10,000 loans and put over $250m into the Australian small business economy. All the while maintaining our ability to wow our customers, which continues to be proven through a stellar customer satisfaction score of over 90%.
AirTree Ventures’ managing partner, Craig Blair, said “Greg and Beau have built a world class team and are obsessing over how to solve customer problems in a better, faster way. They are exactly the kind of founders we want to partner with.”
"This is a coming of age of the fintech sector in Australia. Prospa is a real business solving a real problem, winning awards with tremendous customer and market feedback while achieving profitability from the very early days,” Mr Blair said.
Prospa passed $250 million in loan originations and has added a series of strategic partnerships with Westpac, Reckon and Mortgage Choice coming on board to offer Prospa’s small business loans to their customers.
Co-Founder and Joint CEO Beau Bertoli said “strong partnerships are key to Prospa’s rapid growth and future success.
“To reach more small business owners, we’ll continue to invest in partnerships with trusted brands who share our values of putting their small business customers first.
“Small businesses are the driving force of the Australian economy. We’ve solved a huge challenge of access to finance for them by building the best local lending platform, making it faster and easier to get a small business loan than it ever has been,” Bertoli said.
About Prospa
Prospa is Australia’s leading online small business lender, committed to helping small businesses access the funds they need to grow. Using a proprietary technology platform and a fast, simple online application process, Prospa can approve loans and provide funding within 24 hours. Since 2011, this Australian-owned, high growth company has helped thousands of small businesses, won the 2015 Deloitte Technology Fast50 Australia and the #1 Smart Company 2016, was placed fifth in AFR’s Fast Starters 2016 and is a 2015 and 2016 Telstra Business Award finalist. Prospa holds an Australian Credit Licence: no. 454782 issued by ASIC.
More information can be found at www.prospa.com
About AirTree Ventures
AirTree, partnering with world-class Australian entrepreneurs to build the businesses of the future. AirTree provides early and growth stage financing, advice, connections and operational know how to technology companies around the globe. AirTree is the only Australian venture firm with a globally top decile track record.
www.airtree.vc
Media Contacts
Cameron Donovan
Espresso Communications
prospa@espressocomms.com.au
+61 2 8016 2200
Julia French
AirTree Ventures
julia@airtree.vc
+61 411 175 587
The deal is the largest fintech venture capital investment in an Australian business. Prospa also announced it had passed $250 Million in total loans to small businesses in Australia. The investment comes after a period of significant growth for Prospa who is now the clear market leader for online lending to small businesses in Australia.
Prospa will use the funds to accelerate its market leadership: boosting technology, product expansion and distribution, ramping up talent acquisition and building a world-class brand.
Greg Moshal, Founder and joint CEO of Prospa said continued interest from top technology investors like Airtree, and the scale of their investment, recognises the difficulties small businesses have in accessing finance, and will support Prospa in its growth phase.
"We’re driving a fundamental change in the way 2 million small business owners in Australia access finance.
“We’ve now provided over 10,000 loans and put over $250m into the Australian small business economy. All the while maintaining our ability to wow our customers, which continues to be proven through a stellar customer satisfaction score of over 90%.
AirTree Ventures’ managing partner, Craig Blair, said “Greg and Beau have built a world class team and are obsessing over how to solve customer problems in a better, faster way. They are exactly the kind of founders we want to partner with.”
"This is a coming of age of the fintech sector in Australia. Prospa is a real business solving a real problem, winning awards with tremendous customer and market feedback while achieving profitability from the very early days,” Mr Blair said.
Prospa passed $250 million in loan originations and has added a series of strategic partnerships with Westpac, Reckon and Mortgage Choice coming on board to offer Prospa’s small business loans to their customers.
Co-Founder and Joint CEO Beau Bertoli said “strong partnerships are key to Prospa’s rapid growth and future success.
“To reach more small business owners, we’ll continue to invest in partnerships with trusted brands who share our values of putting their small business customers first.
“Small businesses are the driving force of the Australian economy. We’ve solved a huge challenge of access to finance for them by building the best local lending platform, making it faster and easier to get a small business loan than it ever has been,” Bertoli said.
About Prospa
Prospa is Australia’s leading online small business lender, committed to helping small businesses access the funds they need to grow. Using a proprietary technology platform and a fast, simple online application process, Prospa can approve loans and provide funding within 24 hours. Since 2011, this Australian-owned, high growth company has helped thousands of small businesses, won the 2015 Deloitte Technology Fast50 Australia and the #1 Smart Company 2016, was placed fifth in AFR’s Fast Starters 2016 and is a 2015 and 2016 Telstra Business Award finalist. Prospa holds an Australian Credit Licence: no. 454782 issued by ASIC.
More information can be found at www.prospa.com
About AirTree Ventures
AirTree, partnering with world-class Australian entrepreneurs to build the businesses of the future. AirTree provides early and growth stage financing, advice, connections and operational know how to technology companies around the globe. AirTree is the only Australian venture firm with a globally top decile track record.
www.airtree.vc
Media Contacts
Cameron Donovan
Espresso Communications
prospa@espressocomms.com.au
+61 2 8016 2200
Julia French
AirTree Ventures
julia@airtree.vc
+61 411 175 587