A non-bank lender has announced it has secured $20m Series D private funding to continue fuelling its expansion, and it has big plans for the broker channel.
Moula has charted strong growth over the past five years, processing over 20,000 business loan applications and growing its loan book by 124% in 2019 alone.
Co-founder and CEO Aris Allegos said the equity injection will enable Moula to scale up its business lending capability and provide further investment into talent, technology and product.
“Now that we’ve reached an important milestone in breaking even, the focus will be on continuing Moula’s growth by investing in our people and evolving our application of machine learning and AI to our business lending products, including Moula Pay,” Allegos said.
“The broker channel represents the most significant source of customer acquisition for Moula.
“We’ll be strengthening our broker team and investing in tools and technology to streamline our lending process and continue to help brokers offer their customer the best possible experience.”
The most recent infusion of funds was led by Escala Partners with ongoing support from existing shareholders Liberty Financial and Acorn Capital.
According to Pep Perry, CEO of Escala Partners, “Moula has proven its ability to acquire good quality business customers in a cost-effective manner, while utilising its proprietary technology to assess risk.
“Moreover, it has established itself as one of the most innovative lending platforms in Australia addressing finance needs for a significant proportion of Australian SMEs.”
James Boyle, CEO of Liberty Financial, echoed the sentiment.
“Moula is now an established lender with strong fundamentals and a leadership team that have moved beyond the breakeven stage,” he said.
“We’re pleased to have been with them on the journey and excited about their continued growth.”
CEO of Acorn Capital, Robert Routley added that Moula has proven itself to be a sustainable and scalable financing platform for small and emerging businesses.
“Acorn Capital believes that Moula is playing an important role in efficient provisioning of credit to small high growth companies that make out sized contributions to employment, productivity and innovation outcomes in the Australian economy,” he said.
