Kirwood leads Series C for New Zealand fintech player
Kirwood Capital, a private equity firm that makes growth investments in Australia and New Zealand-based companies with global expansion prospects, has joined a NZ$25 million ($16 million) Series C round or digital lending platform Harmoney.
An unnamed private institutional investor in New Zealand also contributed capital. In addition to the equity funding, Harmoney has secured a A$20 million ($12.8 million) corporate debt facility from an Australian investment fund, which will be used to expand its customer base and debt warehousing program.
Founded in 2014, the company was the first marketplace lender in New Zealand to receive a peer-to-peer lending license from the Financial Markets Authority and claims to be the local market leader. Harmoney launched in Australia in 2017.
It screens borrowers and assigns personalized interest rates based on individual circumstances. Once approved, borrowers use the platform to explain how they plan to use the money they are seeking. Lenders make investments in NZ$25 chunks, which means they can diversify their exposure across multiple loans. According to Harmoney’s website, 99% of personal loans are fully funding within 24 hours as of the 2017 financial year.
Since inception, the company has assessed more than NZ$7.96 billion in loan applications and facilitated 59,000 loans worth a combined NZ$1.2 billion. Lenders have received NZ$165 million in interest payments. Over the same period, the platform has generated NZ$94.8 million in cumulative income, representing compound annual growth of 103%.
Prior to this round, Harmoney had raised NZ$32 million in funding. It will use the new capital to scale up its business in the Australian personal lending market. “Access to capital is critical for companies at Harmoney’s stage of growth, and Kirwood’s investment recognizes Harmoney’s globally differentiated digital offering, and its attractiveness as a high growth and profitable platform,” Luke Forster, CEO of Kirwood, said in a statement.
The private equity firm makes investments of A$3-20 million in companies that occupy leadership positions in niche segments and have EBITDA of at least A$2 million. It is industry-agnostic but focuses on financial services, healthcare, education and consumer opportunities.
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