Australian construction fintech Earlytrade has secured roughly $14.2 million (US$10 million) in a new funding round as it accelerates its expansion in the US and invests in AI capabilities.
The round was led by S3 Ventures and Brick & Mortar Ventures, and the company has said the fresh cash injection will be used to grow its US commercial operations and build agentic AI into its subcontractor payments marketplace.
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While Earlytrade has not publicly disclosed the new funding amount, it did say its total funding to date is $35.5 million (US$25 million).
This includes a $12.5 million (US$8.9 million) Series A round in 2022 and an $8.4 million (US$6 million) funding round in 2019, which is verified on Crunchbase as well as previous reporting.
When queried by SmartCompany regarding whether this means the latest round was around $14.2 million (US$10 million), a representative confirmed yes.
Founded by Guy Saxelby and Piers Symons in 2018, Earlytrade operates a marketplace that allows general contractors and subcontractors to trade working capital. The company says this gives subcontractors earlier access to payments and helps ease cashflow pressures across construction projects.
Earlytrade said it has facilitated more than US$3 billion in early payments globally and grown its network to more than 211,000 subcontractors. Since launching in the US in 2024, the business says its US revenue has increased sevenfold.
Saxelby said that growth was helping shape the company’s next phase.
“Strong US growth has made one thing clear: the time is right to make a significant investment in agentic AI within our subcontractor payments marketplace,” Saxelby said.
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According to Easytrade, the US construction industry generates more than US$2 trillion in annual output, yet subcontractors routinely wait between 60 and 90 days for payment, creating ongoing working capital pressures.
S3 Ventures general partner Charlie Plauche said Earlytrade’s combination of marketplace scale and AI ambitions made it an attractive investment.
“Every dollar that flows through a construction project passes through a payment bottleneck that has never been solved at scale,” Plauche said.
“Earlytrade has built the infrastructure layer that makes agentic AI in this space possible.”
Earlytrade also confirmed it had shifted its incorporation from Australia to the US this year. The company said the move was intended to protect investors from proposed Australian capital gains tax changes, which it claimed would have increased their tax burden.
Saxelby said the company was also looking to expand its team as it pursued its next phase of growth.
“We’re actively seeking exceptional talent across AI, product, and sales,” he said.
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