Judo Bank

Judo Bank is an Australian neobank focused on small and medium-sized enterprise lending but also offers a range of personal term deposit products to consumers.

Judo Bank
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedOctober 16, 2016 (October 16, 2016)
HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
Key people
Joseph Healy (Chief Executive Officer), Peter Hodgson (Chairman)
ProductsBusiness Banking, Term Deposits, financial and related services: Business Loan, Line of Credit, Equipment Loan, Finance Lease, Home Loan, Personal Term Deposit, SME Guarantee Scheme Loans
Websitewww.judo.bank

As of January 2020, Judo Bank had lent $1B to Australian businesses and another $1B in digital retail term deposits.[1][2]

History

Foundation 2016-2019

Judo was founded in 2016 with an initial seed investment from an Australian consortium of family offices, led by businessman Geoff Lord.[3] It did a capital raising in 2018, the largest in Australia at that time, and launched as Judo Capital, raising more than $140 million from Australian and international investors, coordinated by Ironbridge Capital.[4][5][6][3][7][8]

At this time a number of global investors bought shares in the bank, these included Ironbridge Capital, Canadian pension fund manager OPTrust, Myer Family Investments, Abu Dhabi Capital Group, Zhong Yi Investment and Credit Suisse Asset Management, Cambooya, Inception Asset Management, Esson and CH Warman Group.[5][9][10]

That same year former Australian Treasury Secretary John Fraser joined the board alongside former Federal Small Business Minister Bruce Billson.[11] Credit Suisse increased their interest in Judo with a $350 million debt facility.[12][13][14] This was followed by a $100 million facility from Goldman Sachs in April 2019.[15][16]

Licensing 2019

In April 2019, The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced it had granted Judo Bank Pty Ltd a licence to operate as an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) without restriction following its application in May 2018. As part of the licence grant, the business changed its name from Judo Capital to Judo Bank.[17][18]

Further investment and growth 2019-

In June 2019, Judo Bank closed series B round raising $400 million, new investors now include the Paris and London fund Tikehau Capital, and the Boston-based alternative investment firm Bain Capital.[19]

On Thursday, 2 April 2020, The Australian government announced that it would invest an initial $250 million into Judo Bank's lending warehouse through the Australian Office of Financial Management's (AOFM) Australian Business Securitisation Fund and a further $250 million through its recently announced Structured Finance Support Fund (SFSF). The investment from the AOFM made Judo Bank the first recipient of capital from the government's $2 billion small and medium enterprise funding scheme that was unveiled in November 2018.[20][21][22][23]

In May 2020, Judo Bank had raised $230 million in fresh equity from existing investors at a post-money valuation of over $1 billion, giving the bank Unicorn status.[24][25][26][27][28] Judo Bank was the first of the Australian challenger banks to reach this position.[29]

In December 2020, Judo Bank was ranked among the top 10 independent neo-banks globally by WhiteSight's Top 20 neo-banks of 2020 research, which based the ranking of the neo-banks on valuation. Judo Bank was the only Australian bank to rank among the top 10 neo-banks.[30]

Operations

Judo follows the SME challenger bank model developed by Aldermore, Shawbrook Bank and OakNorth Bank in the UK.[31][32]

Political commentary

Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says Judo Bank's launch is well-timed with the lending shortfall continuing to grow. "There is no competition", Carnell said. "The big four banks have 80 percent plus of the SME lending market and they mostly don't lend except if it is secured against property and that means access to capital is very difficult for many SMEs."[33]

Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison gave a virtual speech at the Singapore FinTech Festival on 8 December 2020, speaking about fintechs' positive impact on the economic recovery, referring to Judo and four Australian fintechs in particular. "I am incredibly proud of what our Aussie start-ups and early age ventures are achieving, as well as our well-established unicorns and what they’re achieving. You know some of them: Atlassian, Airwallex, Afterpay, Judo Bank, Athena Home Loans."[34]

See also

References
  1. "Big four business bankers flood Judo with job applications". 16 January 2020.
  2. "Subscribe to the Australian | Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps".
  3. "Judo Capital takes fight to big four on SME lending". 25 March 2018.
  4. "Good tidings we bring: The 10 biggest capital raises of 2018". SmartCompany. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  5. "Start-up SME bank Judo Capital raises $140 million". Australian Financial Review. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  6. Waters, Cara (31 July 2018). "Small business challenger bank Judo raises $140 million". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  7. "» Judo Capital Media Release 27th March 2018". judocapital.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. Randall, Steve. "Ashurst advises Australian challenger bank on A$100m capital raising". Australasian Lawyer.
  9. "Heavyweights write big cheques for small business lender Judo Capital". Financial Review. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  10. Pash, Chris (2 August 2018). "$140 MILLION: Australian digital bank Judo Capital just completed this year's biggest startup equity raise". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  11. "John Fraser joins board of Judo Capital". Australian Financial Review. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  12. "Challenger bank Judo signs $350m debt facility with Credit Suisse". Australian Financial Review. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  13. "Offshore funds fuel Judo". The Australian. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  14. "Australian startups and young tech companies secured over $1 billion in funding in the last quarter of 2018 -". March 2019.
  15. "Goldman Sachs opens $100 million funding line with Judo". Australian Financial Review. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  16. "Goldman bankrolls new SME lender Judo Capital". 15 April 2019.
  17. "Register of authorised deposit-taking institutions | APRA".
  18. "Judo gets licence in shot across banks' bows". 24 April 2019.
  19. "Subscribe to the Australian | Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps".
  20. "Government ploughs $500m into neobank Judo in bid to spur SME loans". 2 April 2020.
  21. "ABSF announces its first $250m investment". 2 April 2020.
  22. "Government ploughs $500m into neobank Judo in bid to spur SME loans". 2 April 2020.
  23. "Challenger bank Judo poised to guide SMEs through Covid-19 crisis". Business News Australia. 10 December 2018.
  24. "Judo Bank is now a unicorn". 6 May 2020.
  25. "Judo Bank revels in unicorn status as investors tip in another $230m". 6 May 2020.
  26. "Judo Bank secures $230 million and unicorn status, as COVID-19 changes the tide of SME banking". 7 May 2020.
  27. "SME lender Judo Bank just became a unicorn with another massive $230 million raise". 7 May 2020.
  28. "Judo Bank achieves Unicorn status on $230 million fund raise". 11 May 2020.
  29. "The three Aussie start-ups worth billions". 25 January 2021.
  30. "Top 20 Neo-Banks of 2020". 28 December 2020.
  31. Bindi, Tas (27 March 2018). "Former NAB execs officially launch new SME lender".
  32. "Australian NeoBank Judo Capital Will Focus on SME Banking". 30 March 2018.
  33. Waters, Cara (26 March 2018). "Heat on big four as new bank launches with SME focus". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  34. "Virtual Speech - Singapore FinTech Festival | Prime Minister of Australia". Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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