The Nimble way to access a little cash
Entrepreneurs Sean Teahan and Greg Ellis enjoyed easy success with an online business they built and sold in Britain 10 years ago. But the past decade has been marked by lessons learnt the hard way, which helped them understand their customers in their latest venture, small short-term loans start-up Nimble.
The company launched six years ago, and has enjoyed rapid growth, featuring on BRW's Fastest 100 list - which ranks the growth of small and medium enterprises - for the past two years. Ellis says this financial year's growth has been the fastest yet for the business, which employs 80 staff at its head office in Southport, on the Gold Coast.
"We're still really warming up," Ellis says. "We are now pushing the accelerator to scale big and fast without too much risk."
The idea for a business that offers small, short-term loans to help tide over professional, reliable borrowers came seven years ago, when Teahan and Ellis, both 38, were reminiscing over the financial challenges they faced in their 20s.
"I had a flat mate and we were paid fortnightly on opposing fortnights and we used to be mutually financing each other until our next pay. Sean and I started talking about the idea of having a small loan secured by someone's next pay day."
The business they have created after many twists and turns, Nimble, offers short-term loans for up to $600 that can be approved online in less than an hour for first time borrowers, and instantly for accredited members. The founders describe Nimble as a technology business first.
"What we're doing is unprecedented in Australia. We've created technology platforms using mathematical modelling and algorithms."
The software that Nimble has developed not only checks traditional credit risk data sources for its risk assessments, it also scours the web to cross-check with other data sources. The software also looks at the way people enter the information into their application form: such as what they're doing with their mouse and how much time it takes them to complete fields.
"That sort of information helps predict if people are defrauding, how much they can afford to repay, and whether they can be approved."
Nimble also has a strong ethical underpinning to its loans.
"The real goal of the business is to only make money when people can afford to repay and in the few instances where they can't afford to repay we actually lose money deliberately because we are trying to incentivise Nimble to make correct lending decisions so people have positive experiences," Ellis says.
"Nimble doesn't have the draconian features that a traditional bank has for its customers. Other lending models are not really clear about what is happening and if you make a mistake you get penalised and you don't really realise until afterwards. We find that sort of stuff offensive," Ellis says.
Teahan and Ellis know how hard it can be to find that extra cash to make ends meet, and not just from their experiences during their 20s. While the pair enjoyed fast success in their late 20s creating and selling an online recruitment business, A-Team Health Recruitment, connecting Australian and New Zealand pharmacists with British retail chemists, the road was slower for their next venture.
They originally began Nimble, which until November last year was called Cash Doctors, as a shop front space in Southport, giving small loans to people off-the-street.
"We'd look at each other when the person came in and be very subjective about it: 'Is this person good for it?' We lost a bit of money through bad credit risk decisions, we lost money because we had to go in and out of a shop-front: we had to break a lease and we spent money on a fitout which we didn't use very long."
After deciding to change to an online model, Teahan and Ellis bought out a third business partner, and they both mowed lawns in Brisbane for a year to repay their debts and to finance their new idea.
Ellis is proud that most of the business has been self-funded. They started with seed capital of less than $200,000 - made up of their own contributions and from personal networks. And the nascent business survived setbacks when successive changes to credit legislation forced them to change their software modelling.
Last year, Nimble attracted the attention of private health insurance selector iSelect founder Damien Waller and board member Les Webb, who made a combined investment of $1.5 million in the business.
The injection of capital has enabled a national television and radio advertising campaign, which has driven a 300 per cent growth in new members in six months.
"We really feel we're just scratching the surface and it really is ready to multiply now, as we've seen a couple of companies do in the world once the technology is in place and they pull the trigger."
They're hoping it will change the way people access credit.
"It will be nice for people to see Nimble as an alternative in their financial arsenal. You can still get a cash advance on a credit card, but that's old school; that will be like a Gordon Gekko mobile phone today."
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
Nimble is a technology-first small loans business founded by Sean Teahan and Greg Ellis. It offers short-term loans of up to $600 that can be approved online in less than an hour for first-time borrowers and instantly for accredited members.
Nimble uses proprietary technology, mathematical modelling and algorithms to speed decisions. Its software checks traditional credit-risk data, scours the web for corroborating information and even analyses how applicants complete the online form (for example mouse movements and time spent on fields) to predict affordability and fraud risk.
Yes — Nimble says it has a strong ethical underpinning. The founders aim to make money only when borrowers can afford to repay; in cases where borrowers genuinely can’t repay they say the business will sometimes lose money deliberately to incentivise correct lending decisions and deliver positive customer experiences.
Nimble was founded by entrepreneurs Sean Teahan and Greg Ellis. After earlier success creating and selling an online recruitment business, they launched Nimble (originally called Cash Doctors) to provide small short-term loans. The pair transitioned from a Southport shopfront to an online model and built the business using mostly self-funded seed capital.
Launched six years ago, Nimble has grown rapidly and featured on BRW’s Fastest 100 list for two years. The business employs about 80 staff at its Southport head office. After starting with less than $200,000 in seed capital, Nimble attracted a $1.5 million investment from iSelect founder Damien Waller and board member Les Webb, which funded a national TV and radio campaign and drove 300% growth in new members in six months.
Nimble positions itself as an alternative to traditional bank products and credit card cash advances. The founders say Nimble avoids the draconian features and opaque penalties that can come with some bank lending, aiming for clearer, fairer short-term credit decisions backed by technology.
The business began as a shopfront called Cash Doctors in Southport, but the founders found in-person, subjective lending led to some bad credit decisions and costs such as lease and fit-out expenses. They moved to an online model, bought out a third partner and refocused on technology to scale more efficiently.
Nimble’s software not only checks standard credit files but also cross-checks web data and monitors behavioural signals from the online application process (like mouse behaviour and completion time). The founders say this combination of data sources and algorithms helps predict fraud, estimate how much a borrower can afford to repay, and improve approval accuracy.
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