Australian SME lender Skippr closes $16m funding round
Small business financing start-up Skippr has closed a $16 million funding round, sending a message of reassurance against worries over the delayed IPO of its venture-backed partner Prospa, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Pepper group co-founder and ex-CEO Patrick Tuttle and SocietyOne and Douugh co-founder Andy Taylor have both invested in the round.
The Australian firm was founded by ex-NAB executive and MarketInvoice team lead Alistair Lamond and fund manager Patrick Crivelli.
The round is comprised of $1 million in equity from high net worth investors, and $15 million in debt. According to Crivelli, this round has been in the works for nine months.
Skippr’s loan terms involve an annual interest rate of 14-15% and a drawn down fee of about 1%.
Aside from its lending business, the firm also provides a business cashflow forecasting tool to track, manage and predict finances in real time.
Prospa’s IPO was postponed in June as its loan contracts breached new laws, which Crivelli called “unfortunate timing”.
