ASX

ASX-listed REA chows down on $62 milllion chunk of fintech Athena

- September 30, 2024 2 MIN READ
The Athena team in 2018
Athena Home Loans is now worth $310 million after REA Group (ASX:REA) unveiled plans to spend $62 million on a 19.9% stake in the fintech.

The deal is being funded from the REA’s existing cash reserves and real estate giant will take two seats on Athena’s board.

REA already has an existing relationship with the non-bank lender, having forged a strategic partnership in 2022 to offer Athena’s home loan products via REA’s financial services brand, Mortgage Choice. In June last year REA launched the Mortgage Choice Freedom suite of white label products, developed in collaboration with Athena, delivering $1.2 billion in settlements in FY24.

The investment sees the ASX listed tech platform join Square Peg, AirTree, Macquarie Bank, Rice Warner, NAB Ventures and RESIMAC Group, superannuation funds AustralianSuper, Hostplus, and Sunsuper,  Salesforce Ventures, and Apex Capital at the cap table.

It’s not know how much of this investment deal with involve secondary sales among existing backers.

The cost of the acquisition suggests modest growth in Athena’s market capitalisation in recent years since the seven-year-old fintech raised $90 million in a Series D in 2021.

All up, Athena has banked $203 million in venture funding since it was founded in 2017 by two former NAB executives, including a $70m in a series C in 2019, 2018’s $25m Series B and a $15m Series A and $3m Seed round.

REA CEO Owen Wilson, said the company’s proposed investment in Athena enhances their existing partnership.

“Growing our national broker network and evolving our digital mortgage offering for the 12 million Australians who now visit realestate.com.au1 is an important part of our financial services strategy,” he said.

“An equity investment builds on the success of our innovative Mortgage Choice Freedom home loan products and forms a strong alliance to support the delivery of our strategy, while also benefitting from Athena’s growing loan portfolio.”

Athena cofounder and CEO Nathan Walsh said REA was “a culturally-aligned company”

“REA joins a strong list of Athena investors, and we are proud to be working with this industry leader to continue our mission of changing home loans for good for all Australians,” he said.

The proposed investment is subject to conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to take one to two months to complete.