Aussie fintech focuses on invoice financing, B2B payments
Homegrown fintech and SME payments provider Grapple is celebrating its breakout year with the confirmation of a $35 million warehouse facility from Global Credit Investments.
According to Australian FinTech, Grapple’s latest funding will allow it to maintain its current business trajectory, which has witnessed consecutive, record-breaking quarterly revenue growth for its B2B payment solutions. It also provides invoice financing.
Grapple enjoyed an upsurge of success amid market conditions that made alternative financing solutions from non-bank lenders an increasingly attractive option to small- and medium-sized businesses, said CEO and founder Stephen Dawson (pictured above).
“[Falling] property prices and rising interest rates are making it harder for SMEs to secure business funding from banks and large financiers,” Dawson told Australian FinTech. “Invoice financing is an increasingly attractive option to businesses looking to improve cash flow, increase working capital, and accelerate their growth.”
In contrast to the costliness and high entries to barrier presented by a traditional, property-backed loan, Dawson said Grapple’s fully digital solutions allowed SMEs to access smaller amounts of capital in an easy-to-understand and affordable format, helping them to grow.
“Grapple has a product suite that can cater to sectors of the financing market that banks and traditional financiers have underserviced or, in some cases, ignored,” Dawson said.
“Our proprietary tech is Australian-owned and operated and was built in consultation with Australian SMEs to give them the flexibility they desire to accommodate the twists and turns they know come with running and managing a business.”
Dawson said SMEs use B2B payment solution Grapple Now to secure early payment of tfheir invoices while their suppliers pay over a longer period time, injecting urgently needed cashflow into the business while maintaining good relations with suppliers.
Bigger, more prominent Australian retailers use Grapple Pay for bulk purchases ahead of seasonal peaks, Australian FinTech reported.
Global Credit Investments director Henry Stewart said his firm had been “very impressed” by Grapple’s proprietary platform, LendTech, which provided businesses a rolling line of credit they could tap into as needed, helping to bridging the estimated $200 billion gap in Australian SME financing and capital requirements.
“(LendTech) has allowed Grapple to build a unique product set for the Australian SME market,” Stewart said.
“Grapple sits at the crossroads of new tech platforms and traditional business finance, and they have successfully delivered tangible outcomes for Australian businesses. Through our partnership with the management team, we were able to work through the deal complexity and provide Grapple with an innovative funding structure that enables them to embark on significant growth.”
