OpenDebt Raises US$1.42 Mn to Scale AI Debt Recovery Platform

What is OpenDebt?

OpenDebt provides an AI-powered debt recovery platform for lenders and collection agencies.

The company uses autonomous AI agents to manage debt recovery conversations across voice, SMS, email and other digital channels. Its technology is designed to understand why an account remains unpaid and respond based on the customer’s situation.

For customers who are ready to settle their accounts, OpenDebt provides simpler self-service options. For people facing financial hardship or raising disputes, the system can identify the situation and hand the conversation over to a trained specialist.

Funding Details

OpenDebt raised A$2 million in a pre-Seed round led by Blackbird Ventures, with participation from Antler.

The company plans to use the fresh funding to grow its team and operations in Australia. It will also explore strategic partnerships in the US, where household debt in delinquency exceeds $1 trillion.

The startup is already working with several local lenders and collection agencies and has acquired multiple ASX-listed customers within its first six months, according to Antler.

How Will OpenDebt Use the Funding?

The new capital will be used to scale OpenDebt’s team and operations in Australia. The company will also explore partnership opportunities in the US market.

Who Founded OpenDebt

OpenDebt was founded by Norman Yan and Jonas Tischer in Sydney in 2026. Yan is a former Westpac data and AI executive with 15 years of banking experience while Tischer serves as the company’s CTO.

The company focuses on debt recovery for areas such as buy now, pay later services, payday loans, utilities, healthcare and credit card debt. Its platform combines AI agents with compliance guidance, identity verification and hardship detection.

OpenDebt also follows a compliance first approach, with its AI agents identifying themselves as AI and transferring conversations to human specialists when required.

Market and Business Growth

OpenDebt is focused on high-volume, lower value debt accounts that can be expensive for traditional collection methods to pursue. The company says AI can reduce the cost of engaging with customers across these accounts.

The startup is already working with local lenders and collection agencies and has expanded from agent assist technology into autonomous AI-native debt recovery.

What Happens Next?

OpenDebt plans to expand its team and operations in Australia while exploring partnerships in the US. The company will continue developing its AI-based debt recovery platform for lenders and collection agencies.

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