Cape bags Australian government grant to accelerate growth

Sydney-based fintech Cape has secured a grant from the government in New South Wales to help it bolster growth plans.

Cape has been awarded the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) grant worth A$25,000 and was given to the fintech as a result of its unique cash management product.

The fintech hopes to tap into Australia’s 2.1m-strong SME market with its “recession-fighting” open banking-powered credit card.

Cape’s soon-to-be-released card will allow businesses to manage their cash flow through live file management, access buy-now-pay-later finance and make revenue-based repayments. 

“We’re excited to have the support of the NSW government in our mission to help business owners stay on top of their cash and keep their companies healthy,” said Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, CEO and co-founder of Cape.

“The grant shows how invested the government is in developing the local economy and continuing New South Wales reputation as an active fintech hub.”

The fintech, which was founded by Edwards-Pritchard, former managing director of Funding Options,Edo Omoniyi, former senior product manager at 11:FS, and Steve Martin, ex OutFund & Funding Circle’s first Engineer, hopes to revolutionise corporate credit cards.

Cape hopes to combine credit with expense management, helping small businesses to manage their working capital better, with the launch of its corporate credit card later on this year.

“It is fantastic to see promising startups such as Cape tap into the NSW Government’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP) grant. The MVP grant is designed to support promising startups like Cape progress from product development to first sales,” added Stuart Ayers, Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney. 

Cape is gearing up for its imminent launch, going live with a rewards platform initially before bringing its machine learning products, which will streamline receipt and business expense management, to market.

Just last month the fledgeling fintech bolstered its leadership team, appointing Tanya Ward as its first CFO and a month before that, it hired ex-MarketFinance chief risk officer Rahul Pakrashi to help with its upcoming launch.