Online business lender Spotcap has successfully closed its third financing round, which it says is a huge boon for the Australian fintech industry.
The fintech company has raised nearly $50 million in new funding led by international private equity firm, Finstar Financial Group. Spotcap intends to use the funds to grow its global operations, particularly in Australia, Spain and The Netherlands.
This is Spotcap’s third successful round of financing in 18 months. The online lender previously raised approximately $20 million in funding from a group of investors, including Rocket Internet, Access Industries and Holtzbrinck Ventures as well as almost $8 million in debt capital from Kreos Capital.
Lachlan Heussler, managing director of Spotcap Australia, told Australian Broker that this announcement underlines the increasing importance of the alternative financing sector in Australia.
“The announcement shows continued investment in, and support of the fintech sector and Spotcap. Finstar only invests in companies with a proven record of success, considerable strength in their market and potential to grow so the investment is further validation of Spotcap’s proven business model,” Heussler said.
“Finstar’s investment also underlines the continued importance of the alternative financing sector. There is huge growth potential in Australia but raising awareness remains a challenge. An investment like this one will help Spotcap and the entire industry to begin to tackle that challenge.”
The new funds will be used to invest in three “key pillars” of the growing Australian business.
“We will use the funds to invest in three key pillars of the Australian business – our customers, our staff and our technology. In the coming months we intend to expand the local team, grow our customer base and further improve our product and user experience,” Heussler told Australian Broker.
According to Heussler, 2016 will be a big year for the fintech industry in general.
“2016 will be a year of continued growth of the alternative finance sector in Australia. I believe that 2016 will also herald increased collaboration between the old world and the new,” he told Australian Broker.
“We’ve already seen two Australian banks partner with fintech lenders and we expect all of the majors and a number of smaller financial services businesses will announce similar partnerships by the end of the year.”
