Add another $32 million to the investment amount in 2022 with late news surfacing this week that software fintech Constantinople banked a seed round of $23 million (A$32 million) in May last year.
If two is enough to be a trend, then the belated funding announcement is the new black after-meal ordering platform Me&u unveiled last month that raised $30 million last December.
The round was led by Square Peg, with support from Airtree and its first client, Great Southern Bank. One year later, it is still the country’s largest corporate-backed Seed-raising.
The funding was unveiled this week as Brisbane-headquartered Great Southern, the client-owned bank rebranded from Credit Union Australia in 2022. The fintech, which has a team of 60, is now looking to expand into the US and other markets.
Constantinople is an all-in-one digital banking software and operations platform that spans both retail and business services from customer experience to compliance.
It supports a full range of customer products, from mobile apps and online banking, to transaction and savings accounts, payments, debit and credit cards, and a range of secured and unsecured credit products, white labeled and fully configurable by the customer banks.
Paul Lewis, CEO of Great Southern, said the platform has the potential to transform the way banks operate.
“We are very excited to be their first banking customer, leveraging their cutting-edge software and operating platform to offer something new – a digital first, customer-owned alternative in the SMB space,” he said.
Co-founders and co-CEOs Macgregor Duncan and Dianne Challenor, former Westpac executives, said the software completely manages and automates critical but undifferentiated parts of banking at a fraction of the current cost.
“This means our customers can focus on the things that matter to their customers and their business,” said Duncan.
Challenor said banking is evolving rapidly and recent developments in the US have shown fragility in the system.
“Bank executives want to spend more time managing their balance sheets, liquidity and risk,” she said.
“But instead they spend time managing complex infrastructure and operations, and worry about operational and compliance risks. The platform of Constantinople frees banks from this”.