Home loan fintech closes $70m capital raise

Athena Home Loans, founded by former NAB executives Nathan Walsh and Michael Starkey, has revealed that it has secured $70 million in a series C capital funding round, with contributions led by Square Peg Capital, Airtree and Hostplus.

Other contributors who joined the round included AustralianSuper as well as Salesforce Ventures, NAB Ventures and Apex Capital.

The recent capital raise is said to be the largest ever Australian-led venture capital investment round.

Athena’s co-founder and CEO, Nathan Walsh, said the funding will be used to roll out home loan products for property purchases, as the lender currently only caters to refinancers.

“We will use the investment to begin offering home loans for property purchase, adding to Athena’s successful mortgage refinancing operations,” Mr Walsh said.

“Since we launched our refinancing solution in February this year, we’ve written over $500 million worth of home loans. By opening our platform up to people looking to buy a home, we’ll help even more Aussie families access big savings and pay off their home loan faster.”

“Legacy home lenders don’t pass on rate cuts, but they do pass on massive fees. It’s little wonder Australians are crying out for a genuine alternative,” Mr Walsh continued.

Athena co-founder and COO Michael Starkey said the latest funding round takes Athena’s total capital raised to $115 million.

“Closing the largest ever Aussie-led VC investment round, with backing from such high-calibre investors, is validation that Athena’s business model is ripe to disrupt Australia’s $1.7-trillion home loan market,” he said.

“This additional funding will support ongoing innovation in Athena’s digital platform, investment in talent and scaling the business.”

Mr Starkey added that he believed that consumers are looking for “compelling, simple and personalised experience when applying for a home loan”. 

Square Peg Capital’s co-founder and partner, Paul Bassat, stated that the company was “excited” to support the fintech, which he said was “genuinely revolutionising the mortgage industry”.

Meanwhile, James Cameron, partner at Airtree Ventures, added: “Athena has made phenomenal progress since we first invested, and we’re very proud to be doubling down on our investment.

“We’re particularly excited to have our largest partner, AustralianSuper, also investing alongside us as part of the round.

“As the largest ever venture round led by Australian VC investors, this is a great example of the strength and maturity that the local Australian VC industry can now bring to bear to support the growth of great Aussie success stories like Athena,” he concluded.

[Related: Valiant secures $12.5m equity raise]