Sydney fintech Parpera raises $1.3 million as it prepares to launch

Money management fintech Parpera has raised $1.3 million as it ramps up to launch its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) enabled offering.

Earlier this week, the company announced plans for a mobile app-based business solution developed in a partnership with Railspay.

The fintech, which is focused on sole traders, freelancers, and entrepreneurs as a potential target market of more than two million customers, digital wallet, debit card, invoicing, payments, cash and tax management capabilities.

The funding round was led by Melbourne fund, Equitable Investors, supported by several existing and new investors.

It follows a $1m million equity crowdfunding campaign last year.

Founder and CEO Daniel Cannizzaro said 89% of Australia’s 2.4 million companies are micro businesses with between one and four employees and Parpera enables them to set up, manage, and build their business in a digital-based economy.

“We’re excited to welcome our new investors to join our team, existing investors, and community on our journey to create what we believe will be the future of money for businesses, which have been long underserved by incumbent financial institutions and present us with a significant opportunity to better serve them,” he said.

He’s launched Parpera to sole traders, starting with its investors, waitlist, with plans to expand the customer base to other businesses in the coming weeks.

Cannizzaro is planning another round, alongside international expansion once the platform has been rolled out nationally and says he’s in active discussions with several South-East Asian businesses expressing demand for Parpera’s capabilities.

Equitable Investors managing director Martin Pretty said the fintech offers a great solution for micro-businesses.

“We have been greatly impressed by the drive and focus of Daniel and the Parpera team to pursue their vision of a service that small businesses will truly value,” he said.

“We’re excited to be supporting Parpera and looking forward to delighting small businesses who will be liberated from spreadsheets and manual banking reconciliations.”