NAB Ventures backs Canadian fintech firm
NAB’s venture capital fund, NAB Ventures has led a (A$32 million) series D funding round in a Toronto-based cloud fintech firm, Wave, which delivers financial management software.
Wave, which targets businesses with fewer than 10 employees, said it had over 2.5 million business customers in more than 200 countries around the world, including more than 35,000 active users in Australia.
NAB Ventures’ general partner, Melissa Widner, said: “ As the largest business bank in Australia with over 450,000 small and medium business customers, we are interested in any emerging technologies in this space that provide customers with a connected experience.”
The series D funding round also included funding from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Silicon Valley venture firms CRV and Social Capital, global funds OurCrowd and Harbourvest, as well as Canadian investors OMERS Ventures, BDC IT Venture Fund, BDC Capital and Portag3.
Wave co-founder and chief executive, Kirk Simpson, said: “We all know that small businesses power the global economy, and nobody understands Australian small businesses better than NAB. We look forward to exploring together how to serve those business owners better.”
“We also believe that innovative partnerships between technology companies and world-class banks will lead to transformative solutions in the market,” he said.
Following this, NAB Ventures would have the right to appoint an observer to the Wave board.
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