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Fintech business lender Spotcap has announced that it has appointed a new MD for Australia and New Zealand to replace its outgoing MD, Lachlan Heussler.
Simon Keast, who has more than 20 years of financial services experience and was formerly Macquarie’s head of small business designs and solutions, will be responsible for strategic operations in both Australia and New Zealand.
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Mr Keast is to join Spotcap as the managing director of Australia and New Zealand on 1 April, replacing outgoing Mr Heussler, who will step down from the role on Friday (29 March).
Mr Heussler is leaving the company to start a new role as chief commercial officer of financial services company Indebted.
Speaking of the change, Jens Woloszczak, founder and CEO of Spotcap, commented: “Over the past four years, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Lachlan Heussler. Together we launched Spotcap in Australia in early 2015 and more recently expanded our operations into New Zealand.
“We worked tirelessly to grow the business from a small challenger brand to the position it holds today as a trusted, leading player in business lending in Australia and New Zealand.
“We are both proud of the trustworthy and reliable service we provide to businesses in Australia and New Zealand and our three other markets.”
He continued: “I am personally thankful for the contribution he has made to Spotcap and the wider lending industry and wish him the best of luck.”
Speaking ahead of his depature, Mr Heussler commented: “I have loved my time at Spotcap and bringing it to the Australian and New Zealand markets.
“I want to thank Jens and the many talented people who I've worked with at Spotcap who have helped build the company into an industry-leading fintech lender that has helped revolutionise how Aussie and Kiwi businesses access finance.
“However, it’s time to pursue a new challenge, and I’m excited to be starting my new role as chief commercial officer in Indebted.”
He concluded: “I wish Spotcap all the best, and I’m sure the company will continue going from strength to strength in the coming months and years.”
‘Empowering SMEs with simple, swift unsecured finance’
Welcoming the incoming MD for AUS/NZ, Mr Woloszczak said: “I’m delighted to welcome Simon to Spotcap at this stage of our development.
“Simon has an in-depth understanding of the local lending market and a clear passion for supporting businesses.
“We are confident he can continue to establish Spotcap as a trusted, leading player in business lending in Australia and New Zealand.”
Mr Keast commented: “I’ve worked with small businesses throughout my career and know how driven they are. They see possibilities and work to make them happen. They have a vision, they’re just missing the finance and often don’t have assets to secure a loan.
“I’m excited to join a growing company that is empowering them with simple, swift unsecured finance.”
Spotcap currently operates in five markets, having entered the Australian market in 2015 and the New Zealand market in 2017.
It offers unsecured business loans to SMEs and is also using its platform to help banks to digitalise and automate lending.
Spotcap is one of the founding signatories of the AFIA Online Small Business Code of Lending Practice, which aims to increase transparency and standardise loan pricing disclosure across the industry for the benefit of small business.
Mr Woloszczak commented: “We have a rigorous commitment to lending responsibly and will never overburden a business with finance they can’t afford. It’s for that reason that we became one of the founding signatories of the AFIA Online Small Business Code of Lending Practice.
“The code aimed to increase transparency and standardise loan pricing disclosure across the industry, and we are proud of the contribution Lachlan and Spotcap made to shaping the standard of our industry.”
[Related: Growth of alt finance a ‘huge opportunity’ for brokers]
