Commonwealth Bank of Australia snaps up business lending platform Waddle from Xero
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has acquired cloud-based invoice lending platform Waddle through its venture-scaling arm x15ventures.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia acquires Waddle
Founded by Nathan Andrews and Simon Creighton in 2014, Sydney-based Waddle helps connect small businesses with working capital.
Its tech enables banks and other financial institutions to deliver invoice finance to firms through a digital cash flow solution connected to business accounting software like Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks.
The company was acquired by Xero for AUD 31 million (around $19.5 million) in August 2020. However, in March this year, Xero announced its plan to exit the company as part of a push to “streamline and simplify our organisation”. The company reported AUD 48.5 million (around $30 million) “of impairments and other costs” related to the move in its 2023 financial results, with the future of Waddle left uncertain.
CBA has now snapped up the business for an undisclosed sum as it looks to strengthen its digital lending capabilities and “provide businesses with faster and more flexible cash flow”.
The bank had previously partnered with Waddle for its Stream Working Capital offering, which enables business customers to unlock cash tied up in unpaid invoices. CBA says bringing the technology in-house allows it to “accelerate the growth” of the product.
Mike Vacy-Lyle, CBA group executive business banking, says the move “further supports the bank’s focus on simplifying finance” and will enable the bank to “support more of our customers with faster funding assessments and approvals”.
The bank adds the transaction is expected to be completed “reasonably soon” pending customary closing conditions.
