{"id":38491,"date":"2023-10-20T14:56:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/how-this-fintech-startup-secured-an-australian-first-60-million-bank-partnership-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:56:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:56:53","slug":"how-this-fintech-startup-secured-an-australian-first-60-million-bank-partnership-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/how-this-fintech-startup-secured-an-australian-first-60-million-bank-partnership-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"How this fintech startup secured an Australian-first $60 million bank partnership – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nearly two years of hard work overcoming regulatory hurdles and implementing a long-term strategic plan led to peer-to-peer lending startup MoneyPlace<\/a> securing a $60 million deal with a big bank.<\/p>\n

In an \u201cAustralian-first\u201d deal, the Queensland-based Auswide Bank will be injecting $60 million into the fintech over five years in exchange for 20% equity in the Melbourne startup, which provides an online marketplace connecting borrowers and investors.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the culmination of an 18-month process that saw MoneyPlace officially launch in October<\/a> with a full retail and wholesale financial services licence from ASIC.<\/p>\n

A landmark deal<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a \u201ccritical milestone\u201d for the startup, co-founder Stuart Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s important is they\u2019re investors in our platform \u2013 this is not a loan or a bank facility,\u201d Stoyan tells StartupSmart.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re coming on board as an investor in MoneyPlace and they\u2019re here for the long-term. They\u2019re keen to partner with us in the true sense of the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mutually beneficial partnership he says, with the fintech now able to vastly expand its consumer lending capabilities, while Auswide can reach a larger, young market outside of Queensland through the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt demonstrates how a traditional lender can partner with a fintech startup that\u2019s come along and isn\u2019t looking to disrupt and create better experiences for customers,\u201d Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a validation of our model and of the space. Startups need funding but they need customers more. It\u2019s refreshing to have a regional bank say, \u2018we want to do this\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will realise that if a bank is investing then it must be pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Auswide Bank was \u201cimpressed\u201d by what MoneyPlace is offering, the bank\u2019s managing director Martin Barrett says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe we are the first bank in Australia to take this dual equity and funding position,\u201d Barrett says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a wonderful opportunity for both organisations to grow and be at the forefront of the P2P opportunity in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is changing the market and we, through the right innovative partners, are keen to take advantage of the opportunities for growth it presents.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lessons learned<\/h3>\n

The key to securing the watershed deal was years of persistence to overcome the regulatory barriers and following an extensive plan from the very beginning, Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important lesson is to be aware that for a fintech it\u2019s really important to get the licensing and approval sorted first,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce that\u2019s in place you can have deals like this come through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went in with our eyes open but it was still an almost two-year process for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says a long-term partnership with a big bank was always the plan for MoneyPlace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that partnering with a bank was absolutely critical to helping our business flourish and for lending some credibility and validation to what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stuck with it, we worked with it and we found the right partner. It\u2019s all coming together now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to have a plan and stick to it, and revise it accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the deal has been years in the making, now the real work begins for MoneyPlace, Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on this for two years and it\u2019s only going to be much harder over the next two years,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole team is looking forward to focusing now on building a really great business and being able to provide personal loans to Australian borrowers at a fair and better rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we can start to actually do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you know more on this story or have a tip of your own? Raising capital or launching a startup? Let us know. Follow StartupSmart on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>, and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly two years of hard work overcoming regulatory hurdles and implementing a long-term strategic plan led to peer-to-peer lending startup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}