Prospa joins Lend Capital’s new lending marketplace launch

New small business lending platform launches in New Zealand.

Tuesday, September 12th 2023, 6:23AM

Small business lender Prospa is to partner with Lend Capital to bring its small business loans marketplace to New Zealand.

Lend Capital launched in New Zealand this week with key non-bank lenders Prospa, Bizcap and Homesec.

Lend Capital co-founder Shaun McGowan says Lend is coming to Kiwi entrepreneurs following the success of the marketplace in Australia.

“In Australia, Lend has facilitated over 42,000 small businesses to access over $1.5 billion in working capital and we’re excited to bring our best-in-class technology to New Zealand.

"Thanks to our unique data analysis and decision engine we can match clients with the right commercial products and ensure a better chance of approval,” McGowan says.

Lend Capital offers small businesses access to a suite of non-bank lenders and aims to provide a seamless customer experience by reducing the stress and time usually associated with seeking a loan.

Prospa NZ managing director Adrienne Begbie says the partnership with Lend Capital shows its commitment to Kiwi SMEs by giving them more choice and better access to funding.

“Prospa has been a lender on the marketplace in Australia since it launched in 2018 and we’re excited for Lend to launch in New Zealand.

“The Lend marketplace will give small business owners and brokers a simple way to find the right lender and products to suit their business needs and increase their chance of approval. They can get fast access to the funding they need so they can get back to focusing on what really matters - running their business,” said Begbie.

Recent research commissioned by Prospa and conducted by RFI and the Small Banking Council of New Zealand found that two-thirds of SMEs anticipate needing funding in the next six months, equating to $1.3 billion annually in funding. SMEs cited purchasing equipment (41%), maintaining cashflow (41%) and business expansion (32%) as the top reasons for seeking funding

“Although it’s a challenging economic environment at the moment with increased costs of doing business and high inflation, business confidence is the highest it's been since 2019, which is really encouraging to see.

“Many Kiwi businesses have weathered the worst of the storm and are looking ahead with optimism. In fact small business owners expect to need more financing in the next 12 months, compared to the last 6 months, to maintain or grow their business,” Begbie said.

Access to funding can be challenging, with the research revealing SMEs that had sought funding were not always successful. Of the 37% of businesses that applied for a loan, only 18% received the full amount they asked for (compared to 30% in November last year). Others received only a portion of what they applied for (14%) (down from 18% in the last survey).

“This partnership demonstrates the power of industry leaders working together to grow the non-bank sector and make more options available to small businesses,” adds Begbie.

McGowan says this is just the beginning and they have some exciting updates in the pipeline.

“We’re excited to partner with more lenders in the coming months and to expand our offering with commercial and asset lenders, bank statement analysis, automated customer credit eligibility, accounting software integration and more.”

Tags: Prospa