Prospa establishes NZ$45m funding facility

The non-bank has announced the establishment of its first warehouse facility, with an initial capacity of NZ$45 million (AUD$42.9 million), to support its growth in the New Zealand SME lending space.

The fintech has entered a three-year funding commitment with an undisclosed “top-tier” funding partner that reportedly has a “strong understanding” and “long-term interest” in supporting small businesses in the region. 

According to the SME lender, the facility is designed to be “seamlessly scalable“ with a “similar structure” to the lender’s Australian funding platform, and the costs are said to be “broadly consistent” with the levels observed for Prospa’s facilities in the Australian market.

Prospa claims the new facility is important to its long-term capital management strategy and will reportedly redeploy approximately NZ$6 million (AUD$5.7 million) of equity capital into its Australian business, while allowing for additional funders to be added as operations expand in New Zealand.

Commenting on the announcement, Prospa CFO Ed Bigazzi said: “Our first NZ warehouse creates a solid platform for growth as we continue to pioneer in the online small business lending space.

“We believe over time it will act as a conduit to bring global funds into New Zealand and increase access to finance for small businesses across the country,” Mr Bigazzi concluded.

The general manager of Prospa NZ, Adrienne Church, who was appointed to the role in March of this year, added: “This facility will allow us to support an increasing number of local small businesses. Our New Zealand customer base is diversified across a range of industry sectors including hospitality, retail, professional services and building and trade.”

Ms Church continued: “We’re incredibly proud of the work we do to support small businesses in New Zealand and enjoy watching those businesses invest, employ and grow.”

The announcement comes in light of the company’s initial launch in the New Zealand market in August 2018 and Prospa’s official launch on the ASX in June 2019.

[Related: Prospa surpasses $1bn in loan originations]