Yahoo Finance Australian tech to enjoy $2 billion cash splash from NAB
National Australia Bank is pledging $2 billion to help emerging technology companies fast-track their business growth.
The money will go into providing banking solutions for these nascent businesses through “loans, facilitating access to capital markets and supporting companies with transactional banking and risk management” for Aussie tech innovators, according to NAB.
“This commitment is about giving technology companies with demonstrated potential for growth the shot-in-the-arm they need to be bigger and better,” said NAB chief customer officer, business and private banking Anthony Healy.
The tech companies are usually already profitable, but just need some capital and banking expertise to grow even further, he said.
The funding will go to tech businesses who are still at a start-up stage or to big businesses, with NAB creating a new team to focus solely on “high-growth technology companies”.
According to a NAB fact sheet about the $2 billion commitment, the funding is designed to cater for “companies from any sector that have technology-enabled business models” that may carry risks that banks typically aren’t used to dealing with.
“The innovative business models of emerging technology organisations bring new opportunities, but also present challenges to traditional banking services with different types of risks to be managed.”
Specific client needs will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the major bank.
According to NAB, the $2 billion comes off the back of CSIRO’s Australian National Outlook 2019 report that mapped five key areas for change, including an industry shift towards greater adoption of technology in order to boost productivity.
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