Australia-based digital mortgage marketplace operator Athena Financial has completed a A$15m ($11.3m) series A round that included consulting firm Rice Warner, Australian Financial Review has reported.
The round was co-led by venture capital firm Square Peg Capital and Macquarie Capital, the financial advisory and capital markets arm of investment banking firm Macquarie, and also featured investment adviser Apex Capital Partners.
Athena is preparing to launch a cloud-based platform that would offer borrowers mortgages with lower interest rates by connecting them to pension superannuation funds without using banks as middlemen.
The company, which claims to have A$500m in available lending capacity, will begin beta testing its marketplace next month ahead of a full-scale rollout expected in 2019.
Athena had raised US$2.3m in June 2017 as part of a previously undisclosed seed round backed by unnamed investors. Paul Bassat, co-founder and partner of Square Peg Capital, will join Athena’s board in connection with the latest round.