AUCKLAND, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--European-based online lender Spotcap is today launching its New Zealand operations in Auckland, further cementing New Zealand as one of the fastest growing fintech markets in the Asia Pacific region1.
At the same time, Spotcap has partnered with New Zealand’s only NZX-listed bank, Heartland, with the bank providing Spotcap’s Australian operations with A$20million of funding.
Spotcap provides flexible and accessible funding solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with unsecured credit lines and business loans of up to $250,000. Rather than basing credit decisions on historical financials, Spotcap has developed a unique, proprietary credit algorithm which provides deep insight into the financial condition of a business, enabling quick, sound credit decisions.
“We aim to enable SMEs to embrace growth opportunities by offering our credit lines and loans to small businesses in markets that require access to alternative funding solutions,” said Lachlan Heussler, Managing Director of Spotcap Australia and New Zealand. “Spotcap already operates in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia, and the expansion into our fifth market is Spotcap’s opportunity to contribute to the growing New Zealand fintech landscape.”
Investment in the fintech sector has grown from A$1.8 billion to A$24 billion worldwide in the last five years.2 With its favourable regulatory framework, New Zealand is on the front foot: boasting a 1,117 per cent year-on-year growth rate for alternative finance funding3. Not only one of the fastest growing alternative finance markets across the Asia-Pacific region, the local market penetration is also roughly five times that of Australia4.
Heartland’s investment in Spotcap demonstrates the bank’s commitment to supporting innovative fintech solutions. For Spotcap, the partnership enables its Australian operations to accelerate their growth plans whilst the company executes its entry into the New Zealand market.
CEO of Heartland Bank, Jeff Greenslade, said:
“Our partnership with
Spotcap highlights Heartland Bank’s commitment to fintech and digital
banking, in line with both our own internal offerings and our
investments in the sector. We are delighted to gain further exposure to
online SME lending and look forward to working with Spotcap to grow its
Australian operations. ”
Spotcap grew its Australian loan book by 450 per cent from December 2015 to December 2016, has raised over NZ$115 million (equivalent) in equity and debt funding, and issued more than NZ$95 million (equivalent) in credit to SMEs around the world.
For further information, please visit: www.spotcap.co.nz
About Spotcap
Spotcap provides flexible and accessible small business financing, allowing entrepreneurs to focus on what matters - their business. Operating in the fintech (financial technology) sector, the company has developed a unique proprietary technology to assess real-time business performance to grant short-term credit lines and loans. Headquartered in Berlin Germany, Spotcap launched in Spain in September 2014 before expanding to the Netherlands and Australia in 2015, the UK in 2016, and New Zealand in 2017. The company is led globally by CEO and founder Jens Woloszczak and locally by Lachlan Heussler, Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand. Globally, the Spotcap team currently includes more than 90 employees. Spotcap is backed by a number of world class investors including Rocket Internet, the world's leading global internet platform outside of the US and China, Finstar Financial Group, Access Industries, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Kreos Capital and Heartland Bank.
Spotcap operates in New Zealand as a registered Financial Services Provider: FSP535006.
Read more about Spotcap: www.spotcap.co.nz
| 1 | The University of Sydney Business School, Harnessing Potential - The Asia-Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report | |
| 2 | See Remarks by Thomas J. Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, Regarding Special Purpose National Bank Charters for Fintech Companies, Georgetown University Law Centre (December 2, 2016) and Section III.C. and accompanying footnotes, infra. | |
| 3 | Harnessing Potential, op. cit. | |
| 4 | ibid. |
