Avenue
In May 2019, Nightingale participated in the Series A round of “Avenue” (formerly "Go"), an emerging neobank focused on the SME sector. Avenue is aiming to become an SME focused Bank with a limited range of highly innovative products designed specifically for the SME sector. To date, Avenue has raised over $8 million in capital and is currently in the process of applying to the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority for a Restricted Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution licence.
Nightingale has known Colin for a number of years having successfully backed one of his earlier ventures: Creditor Watch – a SME credit bureau which was sold to InfoTrack in 2017. Since launching Avenue in 2018, Colin has quickly assembled an impressive team including COO Dale Hurley (previously at Creditor Watch), CFO Rafael Uy (former Asia regional CFO and head of M&A at Zurich Life) and CRO Charlotte Middleton (former head of Regulatory Affairs at Westpac Group and Chief Risk Officer at HSBC Australia).
While Nightingale’s investment in Avenue was at an uncharacteristically early stage, Nightingale’s mantra of backing the right people and Colin’s track record of success meant that this investment made sense. With an exciting suite of products and the capacity to meet unmet demand in the SME sector, Nightingale is looking forward to supporting Avenue’s development.