08. Wisr

Revenue: $59.39 million
Growth: 118%
Founders: Anthony Nantes, 43
Head Office: Sydney, NSW
Employees: 162
Industry: Financial services
Website: https://wisr.com.au/
Year Founded: 2018

How it started

ASX-listed, non-bank lender Wisr was founded by Anthony Nantes to provide an alternative to traditional financiers in the consumer-lending space.

Setting out to provide users with fairer credit, Nantes wanted to buck the trend of a personal finance market that profits from keeping customers in debt.

Growth

Motivated to encourage customers to make smart financial decisions, Wisr hired and consulted with clinical psychologists as it built budgeting tools which customers would actually use.

The result was an app that could round up payments to help pay down loans faster, and a website for users to check their credit score and learn how to improve it.

Those investments are reaping rewards in the marketplace. In the past 12 months, Wisr grew its revenue by 118% while bringing its total headcount to 162.

Where to next?

As cost-of-living pressures increase and a rising rate cycle kicks off, the company is well placed to meet increased demand in consumer finance and take a larger slice of the $150 billion Australian market.

Accessible financial health is Wisr’s next target area, seeing a gap between cheaper but less-helpful products, and expensive financial advisors.

In the meantime, Nantes has no plans on exiting the business.