Human touch secures $14m for debt collection fintech

A collections agency which bans its employees from using the word “debtor” has raised $14 million in one of the largest venture capital rounds seen in Australian fintech this year.

InDebted, founded by 31-year-old serial entrepreneur Joshua Foreman in 2016, aims to use machine learning to humanise the way clients interact with customers who owe them money.

“We used to have a swear jar for staff who said the word ‘debtor’,” he said.

“The collections industry has historically not paid any attention to customer experience, but we’re showing that treating people like humans actually improves collection rates.”

The Series A raising, which was co-led by Sydney’s Carthona Capital, marked a debut Australian investment for Singapore’s MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia. The round also saw a follow-on investment from InDebted’s seed investor, the ReInventure fund owned by Westpac.

“The collections industry has such a bad reputation globally that it took a bit of time to really understand what Josh and InDebted were doing,” said Carthona Capital partner Dean Dorrell.

“By understanding that it is a customer problem to be solved … and solving those problems in a convenient, legal and empathetic way, InDebted has led a complete revolution of the industry.”

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Source: Human touch secures $14m for debt collection fintech