Best Consumer and SME Loans Companies in Australia
The 99 best Consumer and SME Loans companies in Australia in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Firstmac.
Consumer and SME Loans in Australia is a crowded field right now, and this directory ranks the 99 companies we track by disclosed equity funding and recent funding momentum. Total disclosed capital sits at $2.7B across the cohort, which tells you something about how much conviction is flowing into this sector. Firstmac leads the pack at $1.7B, Brighten Home Loans follows at $250M, and Athena has pulled in $200M. No unicorns yet, but the funding stack is anything but thin.
So what's driving the heat? The global consumer and SME lending market was valued at roughly $86.8B in 2022 and is forecast to hold that scale through 2030 at a 13.4% CAGR, powered by unbanked demand, smartphone penetration, and microfinancing tech. I'd flag the mobile angle especially: median app install growth across consumer finance categories is running at around plus 19% year-on-year, and that's pulling customer journey analytics and retail expenditure data into how lenders price and acquire. Investors like AirTree and Affinity Equity Partners are clearly watching the same signals. If you're sizing up this market, the funding spread here gives you a real-time read on where the serious capital has landed.
- ResearchAndMarkets.com
Ranked: Best Consumer and SME Loans companies in Australia
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Firstmac Home loans provider | $1.7B | 111 mo ago | Public | — | 2000 | Apple iCloud MailTypeScriptJava+28 | 1 job opening |
| 2 | Brighten Home Loans Provider of non-bank home and commercial loans | $250M | 76 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 2017 | WebflowWordPressMySQL+29 | 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 3 | Athena Online mortgage platform for home loans 62Moat top 22%Product top 29%Funding top 30%Innovation top 33% All 10 signals ▾Moattop 22% Producttop 29% Fundingtop 30% Innovationtop 33% Techtop 38% Talenttop 38% Growthtop 45% Marketbottom 47% Globalbottom 37% Newsbottom 18% Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 8/10 · Soonicorn Product: 12 distinct product lines · 1 published app (7.8k installs) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 62/100 | $200M | 61 mo ago | Series D | Michael Starkey Co-Founder & COO | 2017 | ContentfulSentryApple iCloud Mail+27 | — |
| 4 | TP24 Provider of credit line for businesses 37Funding top 36%Growth top 45%Tech bottom 45%Global bottom 38% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 36% Growthtop 45% Techbottom 45% Globalbottom 38% Marketbottom 31% Newsbottom 22% Funding: Raised $120M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 7 yrs (0.3/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100 | $120M | 35 mo ago | Series A | — | 2016 | ReactGatsbyAmazon Web Services+13 | — |
| 5 | IMF Bentham Legal finance and risk management company | $117M | 88 mo ago | Series D | Andrew Saker CEO & Managing Director | 2001 | — | — |
| 6 | StockCo Provider of livesstock loans services | $104M | 84 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 1995 | WordPressPleskApple iCloud Mail+28 | 3 job openings |
| 7 | Pepper Money Online platform offering diversified loans | $98M | 138 mo ago | Public | — | 2000 | Adobe Experience ManagerJavaYouTube+26 | 3 awards |
| 8 | Household Capital Provider of home loans | $38M | 44 mo ago | Series C | Josh Funder CEO & Managing Director | 2016 | WordPress Block EditorVisual ComposerWordPress+51 | 2 awards |
| 9 | Cash Converters Franchised retail network specialising in the sale of second-hand goods | $26M | 134 mo ago | Public | Brian Cumins Founder | 1984 | WordPressApple iCloud MailMySQL+22 | — |
| 10 | PayRight Provider of buy now, pay later plans for retail purchases | $24M | 71 mo ago | Acquired | Myles Redward Co-Founder | 2016 | Amazon WebstoreWordPressMySQL+38 | — |
| 11 | Funda Provider of working capital loans | $10M | 78 mo ago | Funding Raised | Mark Owen Co-Founder | 2013 | — | — |
| 12 | Silver Chef Diversified lending NBFI | $9M | 134 mo ago | Public | — | 1986 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyApple iCloud Mail+22 | — |
| 13 | Krucible Metals Provider of payday loans | $2M | 163 mo ago | Late Stage | Tony Alston Founder | 2007 | — | — |
Top 12 Consumer and SME Loans companies in Australia
#1
Series A · Melbourne, Victoria · founded 2016 · 54 employees$119.7Mraised▾
Provider of credit line for businesses
- Jul 2023Conventional Debt$451M
- Feb 2019Series A$119.7M
- Feb 2019Conventional Debt—
#2
Series C · Fitzroy, Victoria · founded 2016 · 52 employees$37.6Mraised▾
Provider of home loans
- Oct 2022Series C$37.6M
- Dec 2021Conventional Debt$300M
- Mar 2020Series B—
#3
Series D · Sydney, New South Wales · founded 2017 · 152 employees$200Mraised▾
Online mortgage platform for home loans. It features automated rate matching for customers, direct debit repayment, redraw facility, direct salary payment, automatic future payments, and more. It offers a home loan calculator to calculate mortgage repayments or ongoing repayments and also compare current loans.
- May 2021Series D$90M
- Oct 2019Series C$48M
- Nov 2018Series B$18.1M
- May 2018Series A$11.3M
#4
Public · Brisbane, Queensland · founded 2000 · 434 employees$1.7Braised▾
Home loans provider
- Mar 2017Conventional Debt$1.7B
#5
Funding Raised · Sydney, New South Wales · founded 2017 · 78 employees$250Mraised▾
Provider of non-bank home and commercial loans. It offers various loan products, including full-documentation, alternative-documentation, expat, non-resident, bridging, construction, and vacant land loans. The firm also provides commercial lending options. It focuses on creating innovative lending solutions and utilizes a proprietary technology platform to streamline the loan origination process. The company is supported by established warehouse funding arrangements with multiple banks and public RMBS programs.
- Jan 2020Conventional Debt$250M
#6
Acquired · Hawthorn East, Victoria · founded 2016 · 64 employees$24Mraised▾
Provider of buy now, pay later plans for retail purchases. The company facilitates payment plans for consumers, allowing them to spread costs over time. It offers options for both smaller and larger purchases through its network. The company provides a mobile application for managing transactions and updating payment details.
- Jul 2020Series B$12M
- Jul 2019Series A$5M
- Jul 2019Conventional Debt$22M
- Mar 2019Series A$7M
#7
Series D · Sydney, New South Wales · founded 2001$117.3Mraised▾
Legal finance and risk management company
- Jan 2019Conventional Debt$29.5M
- Oct 2017Series D$117.3M
#8
Funding Raised · Brisbane, Queensland · founded 1995 · 37 employees$103.7Mraised▾
Provider of livesstock loans services
- Jun 2019Conventional Debt$103.7M
#9
Public · Sydney, New South Wales · founded 2000 · 3200 employees$98.2Mraised▾
Online platform offering diversified loans
- Dec 2014Conventional Debt$98.2M
#10
Funding Raised · Newcastle, New South Wales · founded 2013$10Mraised▾
Provider of working capital loans
- Nov 2019Conventional Debt$10M
#11
Public · Perth, Western Australia · founded 1984 · 1095 employees$25.7Mraised▾
Franchised retail network specialising in the sale of second-hand goods
- Mar 2015Post IPO$25.7M
#12
Public · Brisbane, Queensland · founded 1986 · 286 employees$9Mraised▾
Diversified lending NBFI
- Mar 2015Post IPO$9M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Consumer and SME Loans coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.