Australia-based mortgage provider Athena Home Loans has collected A$70m ($48m) in a series C round featuring enterprise software publisher Salesforce and bank National Australia Bank (NAB), Australian Financial Review reported yesterday.
AustralianSuper led the round, which included fellow pension superannuation fund manager Hostplus as well as venture capital firms AirTree Ventures and Square Peg Capital. It valued Athena at about $158m and the corporates invested through subsidiaries Salesforce Ventures and NAB Ventures.
Founded in 2017 as Athena Financial, Athena Home Loans offers loan products such as mortgages through an online platform, supplying the financing directly rather than using an intermediary such as a broker.
The company is currently branching out into a broader range of home loans having originally focused on refinancing for homeowners hoping to secure a better rate than their existing mortage agreement.
The series C capital will help fund Athena’s diversification plans, which will include financing clients purchasing non-residential properties.
Square Peg Capital had previously led an $18m series B round for Athena in November 2018 with the backing of Hostplus and AirTree Ventures.
The company had raised $11.3m in a May 2018 series A round co-led by Square Peg Capital and Macquarie Capital, the financial advisory and capital markets arm of investment banking firm Macquarie, and backed by consulting firm Rice Warner and investment adviser Apex Capital Partners.
Athena had already received $2.3m in a June 2017 seed round, with the money coming from undisclosed investors.