Grapple secures $35 million to facilitate lending growth as Invoice Financing surges
Australian fintech and SME financier Grapple has secured a $35million warehouse facility to accommodate surging demand and takeup of its financing solutions.
The funding will be provided by Sydney-based financier Global Credit Investments (GCI), a leading provider of specialist debt capital. The partnership will support Grapple’s strategy to continue to scale efficiently and maintain its current growth trajectory after delivering consecutive record-breaking quarters of lending growth.
“Grapple is enjoying a breakout year as businesses continue to seek out alternative financing solutions from non-bank lenders. The current conditions, with falling property prices and rising interest rates, are making it harder for SMEs to secure business funding from banks and large financiers. Invoice financing is an increasingly attractive option to businesses looking to improve cashflow, increase working capital and accelerate their growth. We expect the influx of new customers to continue over the next 18 months,” said Stephen Dawson, Founder and CEO of Grapple.
There is an estimated $200 billion shortfall in the capital requirements of Australian SMEs* whose needs are becoming increasingly diverse. Grapple’s LendTech platform provides a rolling line of credit that a business can access when and as they need it. In the current market, flexible and readily attainable finance can make a real difference to Australian businesses.
“As the traditional property-backed loan becomes a less accessible and more costly means of financing for many SMEs, our solutions can be tailored to the growth trajectory of any business and allows SMEs to access smaller amounts of capital in an easier and affordable format, helping them grow,” said Dawson.
Grapple’s Invoice Financing solutions are proving more popular than ever and the take-up of the new B2B payments solutions – Grapple Pay and Grapple Now – has outpaced expectations with appeal across a variety of sectors. Prominent Australian retailers have used Grapple Pay for bulk stock purchases ahead of seasonal peaks knowing they can pay overtime whilst small businesses have used Grapple Now to secure early payment of their invoices whilst their suppliers pay over time, improving their immediate cashflow and strengthening their supplier relationships.
“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. 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,” added Dawson.
“We were very impressed by Grapple’s market leading lending platform, which has allowed them to build a unique product set for the Australian SME market. 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”, said Henry Stewart, Director at Global Credit Investments.
