Year founded : 2018
Founder/CEO: Grapple Founder and CEO Steve Dawson started the company in 2018 after seeing how technology had been used to simplify the equivalent market in the UK. Since then, Grapple has processed more than 100,000 invoices to the value of $90million for more than 1,850 Australian SMEs.
Location: Sydney, Australia
Size of Team: ~25
Website: https://grapple.com.au/
Who is your ideal customer: Grapple’s market leading LendTech platform helps Australian SMEs increase their working capital, improve cashflow and accelerate their business growth.
Developed and built here in Australia in consultation with SMEs around the country Grapple’s finance and B2B payment solutions are suitable for businesses of all sizes and differing growth trajectories. Large retailers have used Grapple Pay for bulk stock purchases ahead of the busy Christmas period knowing they can pay overtime whilst small businesses have used Grapple Now to secure early payment of their invoices whilst their suppliers pay over time. Grapple also caters to the larger SME market with their whole of turnover and selective invoice financing platform and product.
Banks and large financiers simply can’t provide the financing solutions SMEs need with the flexibility they desire to keep pace with their business. Consequently, Grapple has seen huge interest from larger lenders and banks looking to license their market leading lending platforms.
Why would someone work for your company: Grapple is an exciting Sydney based FinTech that’s growing exponentially. We’re committed to solving complex problems for Australian businesses (around 2.4 million of them) who’re sadly some of the slowest payers of invoices in the world. How bad? Industry research suggests that the average delay in paying invoices was 26.4 days overdue, on top of the usual 30 day terms. Late payments effect a businesses’ cashflow and ultimately hamper their growth. Grapple and its employees are here to change that.
Grapple has developed and built LendTech products that make huge improvements in how short-term financing is done. Tech is at the very core of what we do. Put simply, we build tech solutions specifically for Aussie SMEs. We’ve been serving their needs for nearly four years so they can spend less time on administration and more time running and growing their business.
Current Investors: Grapple has a number of high-profile investors based here in Australia and oversees. These include Telstra Chairman John Mullen, US based Morgan Stanley MD Adam Merino, investment doyen and Soul Pattinson Chairman Robert Millner and former Macquarie Banker AO Bill Moss, to name just a few. The addition of Grapple directors Cathy Kovacs who serves on the board ASX listed companies HUB24 and OFX and former Director of Singapore’s DBS Bank Andre Sekulic add to the high profile calibre of Grapple shareholders.
Recent Milestone: Earlier this year Grapple launched its new B2B payments solutions to improve cash flow and increase working capital to help businesses grow. Grapple Pay allows businesses to pay their suppliers upfront, while they pay over four monthly instalments. Grapple Now delivers businesses immediate payment of their invoices while their business customers pay in four monthly instalments.
Grapple has now processed more than 100,000 invoices to the value of $90million for more than 1,850 Australian SMEs.
Why the name: Grappling is a common term used in Jiu-Jitsu, which Grapple Founder and CEO did as a hobby, which means to take control. SME’s are constantly looking to ‘take control’ of their cashflow and so it was a natural choice by Steve when starting the business.
Why did the business start? : Steve spent over ten years with Ernst and Young and Deloitte in the UK where he experienced how technology had been used to simplify the SME financing market and ultimately help businesses grow. Steve returned home to Australia with desire to provide Australian SMEs with smarter funding options.