Leading non-bank lender Homeloans Ltd has entered a strategic partnership with mortgage origination aspirant Athena Home Loans.Under an arrangement announced on Monday, Homeloans has taken a 10 per cent stake in the soon-to-be launched mortgage company to joins Macquarie Bank, Square Peg Capital, Rice Warner and Apex Capital on the startup's register.Homeloans has also agreed to provide funding support for Athena's mortgage business, which is earmarked for a pilot launch towards the end of this year.Athena was founded last year by former NAB bankers Nathan Walsh and Michael Starkey who have developed what they describe as "Australia's first cloud-native" digital mortgage origination platform.Homeloans joint CEO Scott McWilliam said the partnership was a key component in the company's digital strategy. "As the technological evolution of the financial services industry progresses, we are delighted to be working with an organisation that is right at the forefront of digital change," he said. "It will enable Homeloans to leverage a platform that has been developed with a best-in-class customer experience as its guiding principle."A focus of the Athena business model is to source mortgage funding directly from superannuation funds by negotiating long-term partnerships.While super funds already invest in the home loan sector through their holdings of mortgage-backed securities, Athena is aiming to deliver higher returns to superannuation entities that directly fund home loans to be marketed through its online channels.The startup says it has negotiated a raft of partnerships in the super industry but is refusing to identify the funds it was won backing from."The funding support form Homeloans, combined with our super fund partners, means a scalable, faster-to-market opportunity for us to take a bigger slice of the $1.7 trillion home loan market," Walsh said."Homeloans' expertise in securitisation markets enables accelerated growth in our loan book, and flexibility to tap a broad set of wholesale funding options over time, including RMBS issuance."Athena has informed subscribers to its website that its first loan product will be a rapid refinance loan when it launches in the next few months.