Judo Bank, an Australian neobank for SMEs, has joined the Unicorn club after closing a third round capital raise of $230 million from existing investors.
Launched in 2018, and co-founded by two former NAB executives, Judo secured its full authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) licence in April last year, when it re-branded from Judo Capital to Judo Bank.
In July 2019, the firm raised $400 million, double the $200 million fundraising target set by the bank.
Taking a relationship-based approach to its lending operations, and operating on a Temenos cloud platform, the bank is anticipating a significant uptick in its lending business as the Coronavirus hits the SME sector.
CEO and co-founder David Hornery says: “The support we’ve received for our third round, at an increased valuation to our second round capital raise last year, underscores the confidence and commitment our existing investors have in Judo, particularly at a time of extreme volatility in global markets, that has impacted all bank valuations,”
Judo Bank’s existing investors include Bain Capital Credit, Myer Family Investments, the Abu Dhabi Capital Group, Ironbridge, SPF Investment Management, OPTrust, and Tikehau Capital.