Online lending platform Prospa raises $25 million round led by Airtree Ventures

Prospa, an online lending platform for small businesses, has announced the closing of $25 million in funding led by AirTree Ventures, which will be used to help the business grow its technology and team.

The raise represents one of the largest fintech venture capital investments into an Australian business and comes nearly two years after the startup completed a $60 million Series B round, bringing Prospa’s total raise to date to approximately $98 million.

Emerging in 2011, Prospa’s online platform allows small businesses to quickly access unsecured loans of up to $250,000, as the business aims to approve loans and provide funds within twenty-four hours.

Speaking about the raise, AirTree Venture’s Managing Partner, Craig Blair, praised the Prospa team’s as “world class”, saying, “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,” said Blair.

Prospa cofounder and CEO Greg Mosohl said the funding highlights that investors have recognised the journey Prospa is taking to combat the difficulties faced by small businesses when accessing finance.

In addition to the raise, the business also announced that it’s passed the $250 million mark in total loans to small businesses in Australia since its inception, having formed partnerships with Westpac, Reckon and Mortgage Choice during that time.

“We’ve now provided over 10,000 loans and put over $250 million 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%,” said Moshol.

Joint CEO and Prospa cofounder Beau Bertolli said the partnerships the business has formed are “key” to Prospa’s growth and 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,” he said.

“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 get a small business loan than it ever has been.”

Image: Beau Bertolli & Greg Mosohl. Source. Supplied.