VentureCrowd stakes its claim as alternative investment option
Local equity-based crowd-funding platform VentureCrowd and residential property developer Clearstate have closed a second funding round, giving more than 50 investors 49 per cent equity of a development site in western Sydney. VentureCrowd’s crowd-funding platform allows investors to buy equity of a property development before it’s subdivided and sold, and former Credit Suisse adviser Mitchell Hopwood said he invested through his self-managed superannuation portfolio as an alternative to a listed property fund. “The Austral opportunity provided a relatively high, short-term return in a bite-size, easily understandable transaction that is fairly de-risked from an investment perspective,” he said. Mr Hopwood said the crowd-funding platform, believed to be the first of its […]
Westpac puts another $50 million into Reinventure
Westpac Banking Corp has doubled its exposure to venture capital, investing a further $50 million into a second fund to be managed by Reinventure Group to invest in fintech start-ups including those which could potentially disrupt the bank. The closure of Reinventure’s $50 million Fund 2 reflects Westpac’s belief that technology is reshaping financial markets and that the bank should hold equity stakes in a selection of potential disrupters as a defence mechanism to potential disintermediation. It also shows how Westpac wants to improve the experiences of its customers by developing relationships with start-ups. The second fund will be managed by Simon Cant and Danny Gilligan, the co-founders of Reinventure […]
Fintech B2B small business lending marketplace Bigstone raises $3 million
Fintech start-up Bigstone has raised $3 million from a range of investors, including ASX-listed diversified investments and venture capital firm CVC, to grow its small business lending marketplace and offer an alternative to the big banks. The seed funding round is the first capital raised by the start-up, which connects small businesses wanting to borrow up to $250,000 with non-bank lenders. Other major investors in the round were the founders of Bangkok-based fund Lighthouse Venture Partners Paniti Junhasavasdikul and Narith Phadungchai, in addition to private investors. Bigstone co-founder and chief executive Boyd Pederson said the capital would be used to fuel expansion, grow its marketing team and to continue developing […]
Adelaide Fintech solution disrupts Invoicing
Adoption of cloud software has gained acceptance and is increasing dramatically. Over 600,000 Australian businesses currently use cloud accounting solutions. And yet, when they send an invoice they need to print and post it, or PDF and email it. This is because cloud accounting systems do not talk directly to other cloud accounting systems. An Adelaide Fintech company has worked to address this problem with a solution called Link4. Link4 delivers your invoice instantly to your customer. It creates a secure Link that allows cloud accounting systems to be connected. This includes popular systems like Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks, Reckon and SageOne. No matter which cloud software a supplier uses, Link4 […]
Visa hunts Australian and New Zealand fintech start-ups with launch of contest
Payments giant Visa is on the hunt for Australia and New Zealand-based fintech start-ups, with the local launch of a contest it hopes will encourage the brightest young companies to develop applications on its network. They will open up applications for the contest it calls The Everywhere Initiative this week, which will require tech companies to tackle real world challenges faced in the financial services sector, with entries closing on August 26. Visa’s global head of digital and marketing transformation Shiv Singh told The Australian Financial Review that while the contest winners would have the opportunity to win up to $70,000, the real value came in the chance to run […]
Chinese fintech startups see Stone & Chalk as a springboard for growth
A delegation of a dozen entrepreneurs from three of China’s most promising fintech startups have arrived in Sydney for a three-month residency at Stone & Chalk, where they will help educate Australian startups on launching into China while using mentoring from the hub as a bridge for their own expansion into other Western markets. In a sign of closer fintech trade ties between Australia and China, Stone & Chalk on Wednesday launched its Fintech Asia incubation exchange, which it describes as the first cross-border fintech incubator between Australia and Asia. The Commonwealth and NSW governments have funded the flights and accommodation for the 12 staff of the three startups, who […]
Major mortgage group partners with US-based fintech player
One of Australia’s largest providers of mortgage broking services has formed a strategic alliance with an international fintech company. AFG today announced that it has partnered with New York-based Biz2Credit. The exclusive agreement will enable AFG brokers to deliver an innovative lending experience for small businesses in Australia. AFG will leverage Biz2Credit’s patented analytics and financial services technology to process small business loan requests more efficiently. “Loan applicants will enter information through a new online small business portal,” AFG said in a statement. “The technology will enable AFG brokers to provide small business borrowers with a broader range of options and deliver faster access to capital.” Using the new online […]
Fintech platform revenues set for massive rise: Juniper
Fintech platform revenues for unsecured consumer loans issued using machine learning technology are set to jump by a whopping 960% globally over the next six years, according to new research from Juniper. According to the latest report on the worldwide Fintech market from Juniper Research, revenues will rise to US$17 billion by 2021, with spending advancing rapidly due to the highly data-driven nature of the market, “meaning that AI integration is likely to spell substantial benefits”. Juniper says that until recently, machine learning was too expensive and computationally time-intensive to break into the mainstream, while access to extensive data sets for algorithm training were limited. Research author Steffen Sorrell says […]
