Mortgage fintech raises $2.55 million Series D

Four-year-old Melbourne online mortgage broker Finspo has raised another modest round, pulling in $2.55 million in a Series D for upgrades to its digital platform.

The company did not disclose who supported the raise.

Founded by ex-bankers in 2019, and launched in 2020, Finspo previously raised $2.7 million in Series A in November 2020, $4 million in July 2020, which it used to acquire crosstown rival Credo, and then $3 million more in a Series C in July last year. 

Cofounder and CEO Angus Gilfillan, a former head of consumer lending at NAB, said thee funding will help Finspo enhance its platform, which digitises and automates the home loan application process ahead of ambitions to deliver a fully automated mortgage broking process. 

“We’re excited to be pushing the boundaries on how smooth the home loan process can be, while providing the  customer-specific expertise that people value from a mortgage broker,” he said.

Gilfillan said Finspo has seen an average of 127% settlement growth over the last 18 months alongside a range of digital aids including an application tracker combined with an online portal for secure doc upload, plus a fixed rate ending calculator to assist borrowers trying to figure our how much their repayments will jump by amid ongoing increases in interest rates by the RBA.

“For many Aussies, once their fixed rate expires, their lender may not roll them onto the most competitive  variable rate that they’re offering new customers, so it pays to know how much they could save on a better  rate,” he said.

“More Australians are accessing the expertise of a mortgage broker than ever before, not just to get a great home loan but to stay on a competitive rate over the life of their loan.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia has now increased rates 11 times in its past 12 meetings, taking the cash rate to 3.85% and the lowest mortgage rates available now sitting at around 5%, with many variable rates above 6%.

The minutes from last week’s RBA board meeting, released today, said that “members also agreed that further increases in interest rates may still be required, but that this would depend on how the economy and inflation evolve”.