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South Australia-based fintech Tic:Toc today announced it has secured a further $24 million in funding led by existing shareholder IAG Firemark Ventures, taking its Series D to $54 million in total.
The Adelaide-headquartered digital lender, not to be confused with Chinese social media giant TikTok, now has a valuation of approximately $230 million following the second Series D tranche, adding to $30 million it raised in February 2022.
According to Tic:Toc, the funds will be used to ‘transform the digital lending category’ with its fully-automated credit underwriting processes that operate on the company’s own proprietary AI-driven lending platform.
In addition to IAG Firemark Ventures, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX: BEN) invested in the two Series D tranches, which will enable Tic:Toc to embed additional products and services such as insurance into its platform.
The company also hopes to accelerate the development of its platform to increase its modularisation and scale of application in Australia and overseas, as well as the growth of its retail business which Tic:Toc says acts as a ‘proving ground’ for its platform solutions.
Tic:Toc founder and CEO Anthony Baum said the backing of IAG (ASX: IAG) - Australia’s largest general insurance company - reflected the success of the fintech’s platform-led business model which has settled around $4 billion since the company was founded in 2015.
“We are thrilled to have IAG Firemark Ventures continue its investment in our platform,” Baum said.
“The continued support from our shareholders signals confidence in our strategy and demonstrates capital is available for sustainable organisations that are solving critical market problems.”
IAG Firemark Ventures general partner Scott Gunther said the strategic investment was part of the corporate venture capital fund’s foray into supporting those with innovative and disruptive business models.
“We made our first investment into Tic:Toc in 2018 and we have continued to be inspired by how they are delivering a next generation digital experience for mortgages in Australia,” Gunther said.
“The evolution of their business model into becoming a Platform as a Service (PAAS) provider has been proven out with so many enterprise customers coming onboard over the past 18 months.
“Australia is rich in Fintech and Insurtech start-up success stories, and Tic:Toc still has so much more to offer in this part of the financial services sector. There is a bright future ahead.”
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