Financial wellness fintech raises $12 million Series A

Fintech WeMoney has exceeded plans announced less than 12 months ago to raise $10 million, banking $12m in its latest Series A round.

Ironically for a startup that bills itself as a “financial wellness platform” to help people reduce their debts, the round was led by Perth online casino entrepreneur Laurence Escalante via his family office, Lance East Office, with support from existing investors BetterLabs, Dorado Capital and Eastcourt Capital, as well as strategic investor Mastercard.

The company also banked a $1 million debt funding facility from Mighty Partners.

WeMoney has a commercial deal with Mastercard to leverage its Open Banking solution in Australia.

The raise reportedly values the fintech at $100 million as it eyes off a potential listing on the ASX.

In May last year, WeMoney raised $3 million and immediately flagged plans to raise a further round of more than $10m to expand its offering. The business is now looking to introduce AI in its lending comparison tools as well as expand into South-East Asia, New Zealand and other countries where a Consumer Data Right exists.

The fintech previously raised $7 million in June 2022, and kicked off in 2020 with a $2 million Seed round.

It claims that more than 1 million Australians have downloaded the app in less than five years, with around 8% of that figure as monthly users.

Last year WeMoney won three Finnies at the annual FinTech Australia awards including the People’s Choice Award for fintech of the year.