Swoop Australia: Bridging the SME Investor Gap
In addition to the end of the Job Keeper payment scheme, Australian small and medium sized businesses are struggling to find capital or debt to resource growth or acquire machinery and stock, warns Swoop as they officially open their Australian doors.
A digital marketplace that provides SMEs, brokers, and advisors access to a broad ecosystem of financing solutions from debt, equity, grants, banking, insurance and utilities products, Swoop uses open-sourced data, open banking, and accountancy software to match businesses effectively to investors and products from all over the globe.
Despite the negative COVID effect on business generally, there is a huge appetite in the Australian SME and start-up sector for growth judging by the enquiries Swoop has been fielding. Most keen to access funding in 2021 are the manufacturing, building and construction, and technology companies, particularly those servicing the financial services and government sectors.
“It’s great to see that Australia is not only open for business but that business is keen to expand and innovate as we emerge from this pandemic,” says Tim Brown, CEO Swoop Australia. “However, start-ups with no security are the biggest challenge we are currently facing, as its almost impossible for them to access major bank funding unless there is property security involved. Start-ups and smaller businesses really need someone to help them identify and navigate the array of lenders and investors that will support them, which is where we come in”.
Peter Harrison, from Cadence Software, Swoop’s first Australian client said, “The team from Swoop Funding have been amazing to work with. After briefing them and uploading my documents once, a dedicated funding manager who took the time to get to know my business and funding requirements went to work on my behalf. He was persistent and did not give up until he had found me the best deal. I had already tried the route of dealing with the major banks and other lenders directly, so I understand the huge amount of time and effort it saved me”.
Matching SMEs to the right investor groups can be another challenge in this sector as is navigating the complex process of loan and grant applications without the in-house capability or right external support. Swoop currently has relationships with over 40 lenders in Australia and is in the process of onboarding many more to add to its group of more than 1000 international finance and savings providers.
Andrea Reynolds, CEO and Founder of Swoop left her corporate finance consultancy in 2018 to create Swoop for this reason. “For decades I’d helped countless SMEs raise finance throughout their journey, so I knew what they wanted more than anything was the ability to simplify and speed up the process they go through to access grants, loans, and equity investment, as well as find savings they need to survive and build their businesses”, explains Andrea.
“That is why I built Swoop – a platform matching providers of finance and savings to SMEs in a hassle-free, time-saving way. SMEs can quickly see their funding options, as well as identify savings on expenditure such as utilities and foreign exchange”.
Established in Ireland and the UK in 2018, Swoop has helped over 40,000 SMEs secure over GBP£300m in funding and savings solutions through Swoop and its white label platforms. For more information visit www.swoopfunding.com.au.
