UK fintech Anna.Money expands into Australia with acquisition of Cape

UK business current account and tax app Anna.Money today announced its strategic acquisition of Sydney-based fintech Cape, a business spend management platform. This acquisition signals Anna.Money’s ambition to create a new SaaS category to take on competitors including the ‘big four’ banks; ANZ, CommBank, NAB and Westpac, offering expense management and corporate cards designed to save small businesses valuable time and money.

This move marks founder-owned Anna.Money’s first acquisition and first in an international market. With the acquisition of Cape, Anna.Money will now have the unique capability to blend corporate card and cash flow management with AI-powered business account management and tax assistance to serve Australia’s estimated 2.5 million small businesses, targeting those with 1-19 employees. The key industries that will benefit are technology, healthcare, professional services, agencies, e-commerce and retail.

Cape established itself as a leader in the Australian business spend management market, which is valued at more than $USD 21 billion globally and is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 11.9% by 2030 to reach more than $46 billion.

With the acquisition, Anna.Money will launch a smart business current account and debit card, followed by further products including; invoicing, bookkeeping, tax calculations and tax filings in Australia and the UK over a two-year period.

The expansion signals the first step in UK-based Anna.Money’s goal of supporting small businesses worldwide with its cutting-edge technology and user-friendly platform.

Eduard Panteleev (pictured), Co-CEO of Anna.Money, said, “This acquisition is a monumental step in our journey and we’re so excited to be joining Australia’s dynamic startup landscape. Entering the Australian market with Cape at our side empowers us to bring our award-winning financial services to Australia’s vibrant business community and help them to thrive.”

Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, Founder and CEO of Cape – who will stay on in the newly created role of CEO of ANNA.Money Australia – commented, “Joining forces with Anna.Money is a huge step forward – integrating our software IP with their trusted platform means we can create the ultimate B2B payments solution. This will all be delivered via a best-in-class ChatGPT-style AI assistant that provides business owners with the power of a finance team in the palm of their hand, just without the unnecessary headcount.”